Just My Luck!
by AsagariMelody
Summary: Part of the yay4shanghai wolf-verse. Phil is counting his blessings that he doesn't have to deal with the drama of imprinting. That is, until he imprints on the beautiful Tara, a mother of two adorable little girls!
1. Prologue: It all starts with imprinting

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, but all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai, and live in the universe she has created. She's just letting me borrow them for a while, to write this story which is part of her wolf-verse. **

**If you haven't read any of the stories from yay4shanghai's universe, you totally should, they're very well written and will have you hooked in no time****! Reading her stories will help you understand this one, since it revolves around two of her characters. Phil, being one of the six wolves to join the pack**** just before the end battle in BD, and his imprint Tara. **

**AN: **A huge thanks to my beta yay4shanghai, for helping me to get to know her characters, so I could get started!

* * *

Prologue - It all starts with imprinting

POV: Phil

~*~*~*~

"Didn't I promise I'd check on her… again! Look man, she's fine, it was just the flu." What the hell was I thinking when I told Solace Maddox had been at home sick for the last few days, he was not handling the news well. Kids get sick, but when it's your imprint you don't think that way. I'd been over there six times in the last three day to see how she was doing and she was smiling. Kids that are dying don't smile (except for those freakily brave terminally ill ones), so obviously she was okay, but Solace was not reasonable when it ca

"Claire should be more careful, she shouldn't let her outside when she's sick, she might catch pneumonia," Solace said worriedly.

"Solace, you gotta stop this man, she's feeling better, she's already back at her dance class, I'm picking her up tomorrow." Claire was taking care of the remaining two of the Ateara offspring, apparently Maddox had infected them, and since Quil would be still at work, it would be my job to bring her home safely. When Solace decided to get married, defying his imprint I was the first person he talked to, because the only way he could handle it would be if I took his place.

"Just make sure Phil, I hate not knowing whether she's ok or not." Ugh, he was worse with Maddox than he was with Amber, at least then he'd had a just cause for concern, now he was just constantly worried.

"Yeah, I know," I sighed, and snapped shut my phone.

I don't really understand what it feels to worry about your imprint, to be so far away from them, I hadn't imprinted myself and I wasn't exactly waiting for an imprint anymore. When I was new to the pack and everyone around me was doing it I wanted to be a part of the cult, but now it just seemed to brig problems all around. The amount of drama caused by imprinting, was immensely huge, so I was counting my blessings that I was still able to retain my bachelor status.

Look at Solace, the guy is married to a beautiful girl, who loves him more than anything, but he's constantly worrying about an eight year old girl he doesn't even know. It was too crazy for words, but it was Solace, so I would check up on Maddie, if it made him feel better. Solace had been my best friend since I was a child, he had done more for me then my own blood family. So I'd babysat, bought presents for, watched movies with and even played chauffeur to Quil and Claire's little girl Maddox, and I'd do it all again if that's what it took to make Solace happy, he was my family.

Once I'd shoved my phone back in my pocket, I laid down and rolled myself under the car I had been working on. It was obvious from the second I saw it that there was a problem, which was caused by the exhaust but I still had to do a survey to know what the extent of it was. The owner had dropped it off today, Thursday, at Embry's old garage, which was now owned by Collin.

I'd been working here since Embry left La Push, Collin was the owner but other than a simple oil change he wasn't much use under the hood. Before I took a job here, I spent most of my time working on one of the two classic cars I owned, I didn't exactly need a job. After selling my hardware stores over ten years ago, and getting a fairly good deal, if I say so myself, working had become unnecessary. I enjoyed it just the same though, more even now that I didn't have to worry about making a living.

The owner, a much older lady, would be picking it up tomorrow afternoon and I had still quite a lot of work ahead of me. I looked up at the damage in front of me and snickered, damn, that must have been one hell of a speed bump! The exhaust pipe was completely busted, it had become loose to the point that it wiggled when you tapped it. Just as I wondered what had happened to the old lady's car, two feet appeared to the left.

"How's it looking?" Collin's voice reached me from above.

"The exhaust needs to be replaced, it's wrecked, hanging on by a thread. How did she say it happened?" it seemed highly unlikely to me that the women in question, had been driving at the speed she would have needed, to scrape over something with enough force to cause this kind of damage.

"She has no idea, she just heard a weird sound and decided to bring it in to have it looked over," he explained.

"There's no way this could have happened unnoticed." If she was suffering from dementias of that caliber, it probably wasn't safe for her to be driving at all.

"Yeah, I think it has more to do with her 16 year old grandson, who I've seen driving it regularly since he got his license a few weeks back." I laughed loudly rolling myself out from the car, yeah, that sounds more like it!

I had almost reached the end of my work day, so there was no use in starting the work tonight, I would get started tomorrow. I still had some time to take a look under the hood and apart from some minor things, the engine was in good shape. After further evaluation I concluded that I should be able to finish it in time.

It was ten in the morning when I came in the next day, getting up early was something I didn't do unless it was absolute necessity.

A few hours later the major work had been done, the parts had been replaced and the minor adjustments that still needed to be performed wouldn't take me more than an hour.

I glanced at my watch, by the time I would be finished, I'd still have plenty of time to get cleaned up. Looking at my black greased hands as I wiped them on my work pants, I concluded a long hot shower would definitely not be a luxury right now. It was an hour drive to Port Angeles, where I would pick up Maddox from her dance class, at seven 'o clock.

After some thorough scrubbing, most of the grease was finally gone. I got dressed I hopped in my '66 Ford Mustang Gt350, deep red with racing stripes. My favorite, a blue Cadillac convertible ala 1964, wasn't exactly suitable for today. The cold didn't bother me of course, but I was picking up Maddox, and the weather was still quite chilly at the end of March. If Maddox got sick in my care, I'd have three very angry people to answer to.

When I arrived it was still early. The dance studio was small, excessively pink and girly, but it had a comfortable atmosphere.

After examining the wall of pictures and trophies, I walked over to the window so I could watch. It was the kind where you could only see through from one side, and there was a mirror on the other side.

Maddox was completely focused as she danced, unlike a few other girls who were busier with each other than with their class. Smiling slightly I watched her work with pride, as one of the few exceptions among children, she hardly caused me any trouble and I liked her a lot.

Most kids were bad at following rules, were nosy, made a lot of noise and generally annoyed the hell out of me. Solace's imprint was ok though, she always listened to me, and was fairly easy going. I suppose picking her up wasn't the end of the world, especially since Harley wasn't with her, that would have been a completely different story.

Harley was the exact opposite of her older sister, that kid had more energy than any kid needed. She always seemed to be bouncing around, she just could not sit still. Harley seemed to enjoy constantly testing my patience, as if she was trying to find my breaking point, which I had very often came close to reaching; I'm not good with children.

The class ended and little girls were pouring out of the doorway, running towards their parents, I scanned their faces searching for Maddox. I waved at her to let her know where I was, and she smiled widely, coming my way. Maddox had a crush on me, which made our interactions easier because she was more willing to listen to me. Before she reached my open arms she was called back by her teacher, who was gesturing Maddie to get back inside, while she held a phone to her ear.

Was there something wrong? I ventured forward and as I came closer, my eyes wandered over the teacher's body. I couldn't help it, when there was a young woman in my general area my eyes raked over her body, from feet to face and damn this woman was hot! She had a body to kill for starting her endlessly long legs up to her narrow waist, smooth dark skin and long pith black wavy hair, which was currently blocking her face from my view.

"Claire? Yes, it's Tara, Maddox's dance teacher." What?! Why was she calling Claire, I focused on trying to hear the other end of the conversation.

"_Tara? Is there something wrong?"_ Claire asked concerned.

"Well, there's some guy here, who wants to take Maddie with him, I thought it best to call first," I heard her whisper.

"_Oh Tara, I'm so sorry that I didn't call you, I totally forgot about it…"_ she continued explaining, but I was no longer listening.

Has this woman lost her mind?! Did she think I was here to kidnap Maddox?! I stepped forward angrily, with the intention of giving her a piece of my mind, but when her head whipped around to face me, my jaw dropped. The moment her sparkling almond shaped hazel eyes met mine, I was done for, this was it, my number was finally up, today was the day I imprinted, on Maddox's drop dead gorgeous dance teacher.

She was a goddess, she was my goddess. Tall, lean, toned, purely beautiful.

"Right ok, well I'm just glad I was wrong. Bye Claire," Tara hung up the phone, countering my stare with a fierce intensity, as she stared right back at me.

"I'm sorry for the confusion, I'm Tara, Tara Li, Maddie's instructor," she extended a hand, which I took immediately, causing sparks to run up my arm the moment we touched.

"Hi, I'm Phil Lynch," I introduced myself a little more enthusiastically then I normally would have.

"Mommy, can Maddox come with us tonight, she could stay over?" A little girl ran forward clinging to Tara's leg. Mommy? Shit! Kids?!

"No honey, we can't today, this man here has come to pick her up."Another girl, even younger joined us and shot up a pleading look. You have got to be fucking kidding me! TWO?!

"Ava, didn't I just say no to Chloe? We'll call Claire tomorrow to see if she can come over," she answered the youngest.

Panic rose in my throat, how was it possible! Weren't you supposed to imprint on your perfect match? So how was it possible that I, who isn't exactly a huge fan of kids, managed to imprint on a mother of two. Then the next wave of horror hit me, if there are children, then there was a daddy somewhere.

That's just my luck! Of course I would be the first wolf to imprint on a fucking married woman! Frantically I started scanning her fingers for a wedding ring, there wasn't one. My relief didn't last very long when I was unable to find one, just because she wasn't married, didn't mean she'd be single. There was really no way someone as utterly breathtaking as her could be single.

We said our goodbye's quickly, this was one of those moments where I was so grateful that Maddox actually listened to me. She didn't make a fuss when I asked her to say goodbye, and just made a deal with Chloe to call her in the morning. I couldn't stand there anymore, frantically trying to figure it out. I needed time to think.

We walked out of the room and out of the dance studio a moment later. During the ride back I was completely distracted, as always picturing the worst case scenario. I drove way too fast, but was completely oblivious to Maddie tensing up next to me. When we reached LaPush a full 15 minutes ahead of schedule she practically ran out of my car and up the stairs.

As soon as I got Maddie inside, I had to fight the urge to overflow Claire with questions about Tara. She would know about her, at least more than I knew which was that she was a beautiful mother of two… maybe more.

"Phil, I'm so sorry I forgot to tell Tara that you were picking Maddie up." The apologies continued but no matter how hard I tried. Claire was a wonderful woman, probably the closest thing to a friend I had among the pack imprints. She was kind and appreciative of my help I the place of Solace. Usually we would talk, chat about Maddie or make plans but I couldn't focus enough on her to actually understand what she was saying, until she mentioned Tara that was.

"It must be hard being a single mom, I can't even imagine," Hah! There without asking, the key piece of information I needed, no hubby or boyfriend around, the tension that had formed in my chest finally lifted, well almost, there were still two girls between me and Tara.

I needed to know more. Where was the father? How old was she? Were there only two? Was she looking for someone? Seeing anyone? Should I tell her about the fact that I had imprinted on Tara?

Until now, the fact that Maddox and the girl she knew from her dancing lessons, didn't hold much significance to me. But now that I knew that girl was named Chloe, and that she was my imprint's daughter, everything changed. I was torn on one hand they looked like her, like miniature versions of my Tara's perfection, but on the other hand they were a huge cause for concern.

My imprint was a mom, which meant that she and her girls would come as a package deal. Tara with her daughters had the potential to be disastrous, but I knew that Tara without her daughters was most likely not an option.

Then there was also the idea that she had already been with another man, I'm not talking about wanting her to be a virgin or something like that, that would be irrational. The thing that bothered me was that she'd already built a life with someone once, had children with that man. She had a world and love without me, so would she have room left in her heart for me?

I kept my imprint to myself, while I liked her I didn't think Claire should be the first one to talk to about it.

The promise to give Solace a call later tonight, was suddenly very convenient to me, despite the fact that he didn't live here, we still had each other's back and I knew I could trust him with my life. He would know what to do, so after I had convinced him that his imprint was ok, I'd have to tell him all about mine.


	2. Ignition

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, but all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai, and live in the universe she has created. She's just letting me borrow them for a while, to write this story which is part of her wolf-verse. **

**If you haven't read any of the stories from yay4shanghai's universe, you totally should, they're very well written and will have you hooked in no time****! Reading her stories will help you understand this one, since it revolves around two of her characters. Phil, being one of the six wolves to join the pack**** just before the end battle in BD, and his imprint Tara. **

**AN: **It was so great to read the reactions to the start of this story! Now for the other side of it, Tara's pov, have fun!

A lot gratitude to my beta yay4shanghai, for doing a wonderful job and remaining calm while I tested her patience relentlessly, by asking her an endless amount of questions about her universe and its characters!

A lot gratitude to my beta yay4shanghai, for doing a wonderful job!

* * *

Ignition

~*~

POV: Tara

~*~*~*~

"And a 5,6,7,8!" I counted down their latest routine, as I watched them move to the music, or at least try.

Most of the girls in this class, were quite young, so with the occasional exception, most were still having difficulties remembering the combinations and listening to the music at the same time. But what was most important to me was that they had fun, nothing created a bigger motivation to do your very best than loving what it was that you were doing.

There were always those few girls that showed natural talent though, no matter how young they were, for example there was Maddox Ateara. Maddox was an seven year old Native girl from the nearest reservation, La Push, she had started dancing with me about one and a half years back, and what a talent she was. How she sparkled when she danced, her whole face lit up, as did mine as I watched her thrive. She was excelling in different areas faster than I could have imagined, she moved with a natural grace that was rare to say the least.

Such a sweet girl at that, her and Chloe, the oldest of my two daughters, struck up a friendship within weeks after Chloe had started joining classes. Which was a few months after Maddox had, now as her mother I'm biased of course, but I think she's quite the aspiring talent. Chloe had yet to turn six and Maddox was seven, but despite the age difference they got along very well, and were quite the duo to watch. Her parents Quil and Claire, were always very interested in what Maddox was doing. You might think it's normal for parents to be interested in what their children do, let me assure you it's not always a given.

The dance studio in Port Angeles was nothing major, it wasn't even the highest paying offer I received but I liked it and the owner Estelle right away. It had a certain ambience to it, I felt at home here, as did my daughters. We had come to Port Angeles when Ava was only a few months old and lived in a small apartment very close to the dancing studio, so for three years this had been our home. Estelle and the other three instructors at the studio made us always feel welcome even my youngest daughter Ava, who at three years old, was still a bit young to start dancing. Estelle spoiled them both, and Adrian the only male instructor at our studio (a very talented hip-hop dancer) doted on my Ava like she was a rock star. No one made a fuss or even thought it was odd when Ava sat in classes on nights that our regular sitter wasn't available.

Even when she got older I would let her make up her own mind about dancing, I hoped she would try it out but I refused to be one of those parents. You know the ones, the 'I couldn't do it myself so you're going to make my dreams come true' ones. I had been there, living my dream, ever since I was a little girl I wanted to be a dancer. Maddox's little sister, Harley the Hellion, as we lovingly called her around the studio, had been enrolled in lessons this January and well as you can guess from the name dancing just didn't suit her.

Dancing isn't for everyone, but it was my first true love and I worked at it as much as I could. It's what kept me from acting out, mostly, when my parents divorced. I poured all my anger, frustration and sadness into my movements during training, six days a week.

It was a hard life, but in the end it was worth it, the months of blood sweat and tears were forgotten as soon as opening night arrived. Now that I was teaching, I looked at dancers differently, and could finally see what people had been telling me for years. Dancing, knowing the steps of the choreography perfectly, was only half of it. More was needed to capture your audience, a certain energy, conviction, and expression, something I couldn't explain with words, though I knew exactly how it felt. It was an energy that drew eyes to a dancer and were able to hold them throughout the entire show.

If anybody had ever told me that teaching, would be at least as exhilarating as dancing itself, even if it was an entirely different sort of excitement, I would have become a dance instructor much earlier. Though the thrill of being on stage was absent, the pride of seeing those little ladies perform at the recitals we organized every few months, was absolutely unrivaled. Most of the parents were happy to see their daughters dance, no matter how it looked.

Sometimes I still missed it, I felt like I had only had been able to perform such a short amount of time, like there could have been so much more than the dance company I danced for in Miami. I had worked myself all the way to the top, and especially those years after I graduated high school I was able to enjoy it to the fullest. It wasn't long after my 17th birthday that I had met the father of my daughters, Nicholas. He had been a few years older than me, and that was one of the good things about him if you asked me, not according to my parents though.

Well, as I looked back on it, I couldn't blame them, the idea of one of my girls dating a 25 year old guy at the age of 17, didn't exactly appeal to me. I was convinced I knew it better than them though, after all, their relationship hadn't survived either, so who were they to tell me it wasn't smart? When I graduated and I turned eighteen a few months later, I immediately moved in with him. Much to my parents surprise we actually made it work… at first at least.

Now I realize that our relationship exactly run like others did, we saw each other minimally because we both had very busy lives separate from each other and in truth we knew little about the other's goals and dreams. At twenty I felt like the world was opening up to me, there had been inquiries about me from dance company's in New York, London and San Francisco. That's when I started to see just how different our life paths seemed to be leading, because while I was starting out Nick was already established and his career was a priority to him. In fact it wasn't until then that I realized exactly how high of a priority it was, and his world revolved around Miami.

The discussion and tension of a possible split of long distance relationship didn't lasted long though, because weeks later I found out I was pregnant. It had been an almost impossible decision to make, having to choose between becoming a mother or fully exploring the dance career I'd worked so hard for. Though eventually I knew I had made the right choice, my girls were my everything, and I never regret having them, not one single day.

That didn't make it easier though, when I announced my very young retirement and the reason thereof, my fellow dancers those who shared my spot at the top looked at me like I had lost my mind. The other ones, those girls still working their way from the bottom called me and idiot, but were happy for it all the same, when I left there would be room to claw their way up the ranks. Dancing, ballet especially can be ruthless. Why would I put myself through such a horrible body ruining thing like pregnancy? I cried, a lot, until the day my beautiful Chloe was born, I loved the little creature instantly, that day I knew my sacrifice hadn't been in vain, she was more than worth it.

Having a baby changed me and my life so dramatically, and my relationship with Nick underwent a serious transformation. My once so glamorous life had now become one filled with baby noises, milk and dirty diapers, and Nick was often absent for the worst parts. Not that I minded those things entirely, I enjoyed being a mom, but I missed contact with the outside world, having conversations with grownups. Nick mentally checked out when Chloe was still just a baby and contact with ex-colleagues didn't help much either, I was constantly reminded of the life I used to have. I felt lonely and had no idea how to make a shift into the other direction.

When I discovered I was pregnant again, I was over the moon about it, I never liked the idea of having an only child, but at the same time I realized my relationship had come to an end, and I was terrified of being a single mother. Nick lived his life without us, we only existed when he got home, and at times even then he was caught up in paperwork and files. When I told him I thought it would be better if we split up, he reacted very calmly. He treated it like a business deal. We had never married so paperwork didn't need to be filed, he accepted my reasons and did not argue them, in fact he agreed, he had no time to take care of children on his busy schedule.

During the last months of pregnancy I had started preparing, I knew it would be smarter to wait until after the baby was born, I would have to regain my strength after the delivery. I made arrangements and searched for a job, which wasn't hard, since only two years ago I had been a big part of a well known dance company. The idea of making a big change in scenery appealed to me. Miami was beautiful but I wanted my daughters to experience all four seasons as I had in Louisiana, so when a dance studio in Port Angeles, Washington made and offer I accepted instantly.

Nick had no objections whatsoever to us moving to the other side of the country, which stung, still did a little. He packed us up, even helped us find an apartment here, and promised to support us financially. He got weirder as it came time for us to leave, he seemed to be emotionless when it came to us, but at the same time he was too proper to not help out financially. He had kept his promise, his check was in the mail every month, never late which angered me sometimes. The money was appreciated but at points, like moments when little Chloe sang me lullabies, I want to go back and shake him and force him to see how much he was missing.

Though it was hard for me having the girls not knowing their father, it was a good thing that they were too young to remember him, they didn't miss him. Chloe had stopped mentioning him months after we had moved. We had been here for three years, and after I got used to being a single mother, things worked quite well for us.

I watched the young girls, all dressed up like miniature ballerinas, I could tell there were some who already displayed that special energy. I was extremely proud to be able to count my daughter as one of them, as my eyes wandered to the corner where little Ava was desperately trying to keep up, I realized that there was no need to push at all, I had passed along my love for dancing to both of my girls.

I let my eyes drift over each one of them, looking for areas they were still struggling with. There were only minutes left in the class and I wanted to take notes for our next lesson. When I set my clipboard down near the stereo I turned to make encouraging comments but I got sidetracked by a very, very handsome man watching the class. I could see his reflection through the mirror wall, it was the kind you saw at police stations, one side was a mirror the other a window, which allowed parents to look I without their little princesses getting distracted. He stood on the other side looking in intently with stunning hazel green eyes. I don't think he noticed me, which all narcissism aside was a surprise because most men looked at me. I'm still young, and what magazines liked to call exotic because it was a nice way to say not Caucasian. My mother was a proud and educated African American who hailed from the south, a small town in Bernard Parish Louisiana, and my father a second generation Chinese American.

I couldn't quite pinpoint the man's features, he had a tan and slightly defined cheekbones but his eyes were stunningly clear and his hair held an almost sandy quality. The fact that he was so attractive didn't negate the fact that he was watching a class of very young girls, mostly 6 through 9. His obvious interest was a bit disconcerting to say the least, I would keep a close watch on all of my girls when they would be picked up later, as a mother I was ferociously protective of my students, the world is a cold place and it was not easy to trust.

When I dismissed my students I watched them closely, watching each parent as they greeted their girls. My eyes stayed on the tall and extremely handsome man, but his eyes were all for Maddox. I stopped her.

"Maddie, come back for a second." As a mother I would want anyone who was responsible for their care to call me if someone else tried to pick up my girls, so I gave Claire the same courtesy. As I made the call he came forward, making my heart accelerate. His eyes, when he looked at me it made my stomach clench, he was honestly the most gorgeous man I'd ever seen, but that didn't mean he couldn't be a pedophile.

When Maddox's mother Claire gave me the okay, I apologized, feeling increasingly more stupid with each word that passed my lips. He waved it off and even his hands were perfect.

"Mommy, can Maddox come with us tonight, she could stay over?" Chloe ran to my side and the look on his face told me everything. I'm still young, but dating, even if I wanted to was pretty much impossible because what guy wanted a girl with two beautiful little girls as baggage?

I promised Chloe we could call Claire in the morning and set up a play date in the morning, saying our goodbyes to Maddox and Phil, though my whole body screamed to keep him close.

Looking at his broad back while he walked away, I gawked. I had been able to hide the impact he had on me during our brief meeting, but now my mask had dissolved. Who was this Phil Lynch, and why did I react so strongly to a man I had just met, it made no sense to me at all. I felt… tingly, that was the best way to describe it.

Throughout the rest of the evening his image invaded my thoughts, especially those eyes, I'd never seen eyes like his, and the intensity of them was insane. The way he had been looking at me, just remembering it, gave me goose bumps.

Chloe held me to my promise the next morning, she wanted Maddox to come over, and dialed the number expertly a soon as I said it was an appropriate time to call. It was probably a good idea for her to come here, she'd be bored out of her mind, cooped up with her sick brother and sister all day. After she'd finished her conversation with Maddox, she handed me the phone, so I could make arrangements with Claire.

"Tara, do you mind if I came along with Maddie? I've been dealing with my sick young ones the entire week, and Quil's taking over so I could use an afternoon off," Claire and I were developing a friendship gradually, we got along really well; that combined with our daughters growing bonds, made me think that we'd be very close friends one day.

"Of course I don't mind Claire, you're more than welcome. I could use some company," I said honestly. It would be nice to have a good friend. Besides the people I knew from the dance studio, I didn't have many real friends, and despite getting along with the teachers great, it was different somehow.

"Thanks, what do you say, about one o 'clock this afternoon?" It was ten in the morning now, so that gave us plenty time to get ready.

"One's fine, see you then!" After hanging up, I ate breakfast with the girls, so we could shower and get dressed later.

During the weekends our days started slow, the girls got up pretty early and I wasn't one to sleep a whole in the day either. But we'd hang around in our pj's until quite late, being silly and watching cartoons, until hunger drove us to enjoy a breakfast that almost counted as lunch. Not today though, today we'd sped up our regular Saturday routine, making sure to be ready on time.

The girls were practically bouncing of the walls, awaiting the arrival of Maddox impatiently. When she did arrive with Claire, I was barely able to restrain Chloe and Ava from running out the door. They rushed towards Chloe's room, pulling Maddie with them, almost instantly after she'd stepped over the threshold.

You could say all you want about the insignificance of a child's friendship, but I thought it was absolute nonsense to believe what they shared, to be unimportant. To me it was very gratifying to see them so happy about spending time with the other, Harley was quite a prominent member of their little group, and I was sure all of them felt sad that she wasn't here today, Lee herself most of all.

When Claire walked in after her daughter, I was truly happy to see her, she was a lot of fun to hang out with. I was reluctant about admitting it, but a small part of why I was looking forward to spending the afternoon with her, was because she knew Phil. This meant I was actually stooping to the level of trying to satiate my curiosity through her, and I felt guilty about it. Not that I could do anything about the way Phil occupied my mind, and the sudden fascination that came with meeting him.

It was so not like me at all, to get infatuated with a guy so easily, not a single man had caught my interest since I'd split up with Nicholas, sure I was able to appreciate nature's gift from time to time, but always from a distance. This was different, I was sure he'd felt the igniting of a flickering flame, the moment his hand touched mine. This was something all together different.


	3. Play dates for grownups

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, but all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai, and live in the universe she has created. She's just letting me borrow them for a while, to write this story which is part of her wolf-verse. **

**If you haven't read any of the stories from yay4shanghai's universe, you totally should, they're very well written and will have you hooked in no time****! Reading her stories will help you understand this one, since it revolves around two of her characters. Phil, being one of the six wolves to join the pack**** just before the end battle in BD, and his imprint Tara. **

**AN: **Here's the next one!

A big thank you, to my beta yay4shanghai for doing a kick ass job!

* * *

Play dates for grown-ups

~*~

POV: Phil

~*~*~

After I dropped off Maddox I went home, in a complete daze after my imprint experience. The feeling of our eyes first locking when my world realigned it still lingered, and it was the best feeling in the world. Only I never got the chance to savor it, because a few moments later, when her kids came into view, it was ruined.

Fuck! How could this have happened? My imprint was supposed to be mine, for me, now I had to fight with two little ankle-biters if I ever wanted to see her. That was never something I dealt with before. I'm not known as a ladies' man like my best friend Solace, but I get around and mother's were not suitable for anything but a one night stand. This child thing wasn't very appealing, but now that I had imprinted, the idea of not pursuing a relationship with her was unimaginable.

The connection with Tara was instant, unwavering, a very strong tugging sensation, present since she looked me in the eyes a few hours ago. This would take some getting used to. She was in my mind constantly, her well being had become my first priority, though I didn't know her at all. Even now I had to fight the urge to drive over to Port Angeles to just try and find her, I had no idea where she lived, yet I was absolutely positive I would if I were close.

Screw this, I had to call Solace even if we were still almost an hour short of the agreed time. How he managed to live so far from Maddox, married to Amber, was a mystery to me, it hadn't been 24 hours yet, and I already wanted her close. The phone rang and Solace's voice sounded on the other end a beat later, completely freaking out.

Yeah Phil, that's what happens when you call early to update a wolf on his imprint, he immediately takes it as a sign that something is wrong.

"What happened?! Is she ok?!" An exhausted sigh escaped me. I liked Maddie, I did, as far as kids go she was alright, but I was far from interested in talking about her.

"Yes Solace, your precious Maddox is perfectly fine," I couldn't help but sound irritated. If he was so concerned about her, why didn't just come down here and see her himself, instead of having me and Randy spy on her all the time?

"Man you almost gave me a heart attack! Why are you calling so early then? How's Maddie?" Right, just waltz on over the fact that I might actually have a good reason for calling early and bring up your abandoned imprint.

"I said she's fine." Normally I would include at least a few details, since I knew he longed to hear as much as he could about her, but right now I really didn't want to.

"Could you be a bit more specific maybe? Like is she feeling completely well again, and did she have fun at her dance class?" Solace couldn't help it that I was in such a funky mood, so I figured I'd give him what he needed, so we could move on to the next point of business.

"Of course she had fun, she loves her dance classes, you should see her face when she's dancing, she's very good at it. And she's made friends with the dance teacher Tara's daughter Chloe, I think she's going over to their house tomorrow." Only the sound of her name made my heart beat faster.

"So she's fully recovered then?" He was truly relentless!

"Yes Solace! Could you maybe stop thinking about your imprint for a few seconds?!" Who was I kidding, of course he couldn't, but what he could do was listen to me for a moment.

"Damn Phil, what bug crawled up your ass!" That had me laughing again, as always it was hard for me to stay mad at him.

"I imprinted today Solace." Saying I'm blunt is a gross understatement, I heard him gasp on the other end of the line.

"You did? Shit! Who's the lucky lady?" He asked when he recovered himself.

"Actually, it's Maddie's dance teacher, Tara," I stayed silent awaiting his reaction.

"Seriously? That is, well, I don't know what to think of it exactly. What happened?" That was Solace for ya, immediately engrossed in what I was telling him.

"Well, it's funny sorta… she thought I was a creep who planning on taking Maddox. Right when she was calling Claire, our eyes met, and bam that was it!" I could hear Solace trying to keep from laughing on the other end, but eventually he gave up and howled so loud I thought I'd go deaf.

"She thought you were a pedophile! Nice, dude, real nice!" When you looked at it that way, it wasn't funny at all, would she still think I was creepy?

"It wasn't that funny!" When he realized I was actually a bit concerned about what she might think of me, he composed himself.

"Ok, so tell me about her, what's she like?"

"She—she's absolutely perfect, the most beautiful woman I've seen in my entire life! Hot… smoking, like a model. She's, well I, don't really know what she is but she's exotic. She's got a body like—oh my god and her eyes they're almond shaped and she's just… indescribable. Perfect, except you know, she's got kids, two kids, small ones," the last part of the sentence I had to force out and was barely audible.

"Shit, how'd you manage that? You hate kids!" Solace himself didn't really have a problem with kids, I mean look at how close he and Amber were, when she was still a little girl.

"You're acting as if I did it on purpose, it happened ok! And I can't even imagine not having imprinted on her, she's so-" he interrupted me before I could finish.

"What did you do when you found out she was a mom?" He asked intently.

"Ah, I got out of there as soon as I could," I admitted shamefully.

"You're so fucked!" He laughed loudly, and soon I joined him, he had a point, it had been mere hours and she was already dominating my every thought.

"I really am," I sighed deeply, I was practically breaking my head, trying to figure this out.

"Two girls huh? Well, I think there's only one thing you can do," see I knew Solace would have an answer to my problem.

"Really, what's that?" I was expecting some serious plot to make the girls instantly love me, without me actually having to deal with them. Ok, maybe that was a bit much, but what he was suggesting lacked all the pizzazz I was hoping for, it wasn't even a plan!

"You should try to get to know them, after you've established some sort of bond with Tara of course. Maybe they're not that bad, maybe you'll get along great with them." See, I told you, not even a hint of a plan in there.

"We can't all be Solace and have an unusual talent to befriend all women, even miniature ones!" I hadn't seen him interacting with little boys much, but he was truly gifted when it came to females, all of them, whether they were toddlers or my eighty year old grandma who lovingly called him "Beef-Cake".

"What do you want me to do? Give you some magic word that makes all of them like you instantly? I hate to break it to you Phil, but it doesn't exist." Of course it doesn't, but he could give me more than common sense.

"Yeah yeah, I get it, there's no shortcut, I have to do actual work." The question was how was I going to do that, I barely knew what to say to Maddie, and I had the advantage of already knowing her and not having to earn her trust.

"You shouldn't get ahead of yourself anyways, for now you need to focus on Tara, if you two aren't at least dating, you're never gonna see those girls anyway." Right, see I was so preoccupied I forgot that Tara wouldn't magically fall in love with me, despite the effect of an imprint, which was really just a push in the right direction.

"I think I'm gonna check with Quil and see if I can pick Maddox up from her next dance class, this time I won't rush away though."

"You'd better not, I can't hang with guys who are afraid of girls!"

Talking to Solace had helped, a lot actually, nothing had been solved, but at least I felt better about the situation now. Knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't talk to Quil, I decided to take the plunge and call him. I'd have to explain why I wanted to pick up Maddie next week, he wasn't stupid, so I told him about imprinting on Tara.

Quil who had been part of an "us" for quite some time now, immediately had to share this newly acquired information with his wife, who I heard squealing with delight in the background, she was truly still a girl at heart. Claire was planning on going with Maddie when she heard Maddox and Chloe had made a deal for the next day, so Quil would be home with the youngest two, and he suggested that I would come over and hang out with him.

When I laughed about it he obviously felt the need to rub the situation in my nose. Now that I had imprinted on a mom, I'd better start getting used to kids, since my life that I had planned without them, had gone up in smoke today.

~*~

POV: Tara

~*~*~

As soon as the girls had disappeared a big smile appeared on Claire's face, she was definitely up for some girl-time, judging by the twinkling in her eyes. Now I didn't know her well enough to be sure, but if you asked me she was up to something. Hmm, I wonder what she was cooking up in that pretty head of hers, I squinted my eyes as I looked at her suspiciously, hoping she'd just confess what she was up to.

"So Tara, how've you been doing? Anything interesting happened lately?" See, she was way too enthusiastic to write it off as signs of withdrawal from the outside world.

"No not really, was there something specific you were referring to?" I smiled because her face fell in disappointment, what was she on about?

"Are you sure, nothing unusual, nobody that you've met recently that was worth mentioning?" Now it was beginning to dawn on me.

"You're talking about Phil, aren't you? Claire you're not playing matchmaker are you? Please tell me you didn't send him to pick up Maddie just so we could meet?" That so wasn't a good idea, not only did I slightly object to people meddling in people's personal life, but especially not with me. I wasn't in any position to be dating anyone, not anymore, let alone smoking hot young bachelors like Phil.

"Of course I wouldn't do that! But I was talking about him though, how did you know?" She wiggled her eyebrows knowingly, making me laugh.

"Well, he was the only man that I've… met this week!" Watching Claire fill with anticipation, only to have it vanish instantly, it was just too funny! Claire glared at me for a moment before she chuckled along with me.

"Tara! That's not nice, stop make fun of me!" She said with an authoritative tone, while wagging her finger.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist," it was nice to have her over, I had missed having a real friend around to talk to.

The rest of the afternoon we talked and laughed like we had been silent for at least a few months, every once in a while she would mention Phil, and I tried my very best to be casual about it. It just wasn't working, I couldn't keep my lips from curling upwards in a smile or blushing.

So far I'd learned he was single, one hell of a mechanic, and a few other small details, each of them locking into my mind the moment they crossed her lips. The one thing she didn't mention was how he was with kids, which painted a picture that said just about everything. He hadn't been just surprised, he had been utterly horrified by my sweet little angels, that alone should have made him instantly unattractive, in fact I was quite irritated with myself that it didn't, I couldn't stop thinking of him.

She nearly killed me when she told me he would probably be picking Maddie up next Monday as well, since Harley and Addison were still under the weather and Claire didn't expect them to be better by then. Maddie took three classes a week at the studio, Monday ballet with me, Wednesday tap-dance with my co-worker Stacey and Friday modern, a class I alternated with my co-worker Lola (no young dancer wants to work every Friday night). For most girls I'd say this was a bit much, three classes a week, but she loved it so much, that I honestly thought it would make her to sad to give it up, in fact she'd probably take up a few more if she could.

When it was time to cook dinner, Claire and I worked together in the kitchen, while she told me about her life on the Quileute reservation of LaPush. She grew up on the Makah reservation but moved to La Push when she married her husband Quil. The way she talked about them, it seemed like such a tight community like one big family, I think I'd love it there, in fact I was a bit jealous. She said it was too much sometimes, but she couldn't imagine life without them. She told me that even during the time she and Quil hadn't lived there, they were still always there for them in a way and had received them with open arms when they returned.

I had never known anything like that, most of my life it had been just my parents and me. Though my grandparents on my mother's side were still alive, I hardly knew them. On top of that, my parents had been divorced for years, so even the small family I had once known, was practically nonexistent now. I thought of Chloe and Ava, how great it would be for them, half day dreaming while I listened to Claire for hours. She was truly happy living on the reservation, living the life she and Quil had created along with their children.

That was something I'd never had with Nicholas, creating a home with each other, honestly I didn't think he was capable of sharing a life with someone on that level. In a way it was sad, he'd never understand just how lucky he was that he could have our two precious little girls in his life. One day he'd be too late though, even a girls love for her father had its limits, unconditional love from your children doesn't exist.

The three of us had it pretty good though, I looked at them as they stumbled into the kitchen, smelling dinner while they rubbed their rumbling bellies. As usual around this time of day, they were trying to get me to give them a cookie, or chips, or some other kind of junk food. And also as usual, I refused them since dinner was almost done; of course they rewarded me with and ear full of whines.

Different versions of the familiar chorus reached my ears, "oh mom, come on" and "please mom, pleeeaase" and finally "you're so mean, you always say no" the last one went with a big pout and crossed arms of course, that one was the funniest of all. But their efforts were wasted on me, maybe they had a small chance of succeeding with the babysitter, but no with me. Maddie was leaning in the corner looking on as they pleaded, obviously thinking of herself as way too big to be acting so childish.

"That's enough, dinner's almost ready, and I don't want you spoiling you're appetite!" They looked at me like I was talking complete nonsense, but before they could start disagreeing with me, using the weirdest arguments to support their case, Claire announced they could set the table, cause food would be served in a minute.

After dinner Claire and Maddie went home, it was a good thing too, Ava was half asleep on her feet already, and I could see Chloe was getting pretty tired too. They were ready for bed remarkably fast, within a matter of minutes after I'd put them to bed, they were fast asleep.

As I looked at my girls from the doorway, I made a pact with myself, scolding myself for my irresponsible interest in Phil. No matter what, no matter who, nobody would ever become between me and my girls.

Despite my intentions of putting Phil out of my mind, I dreamed about him that night, the kind of intense dream that has you waking up gasping for air, leaving you hot and sweaty alone in bed, with a heart beating too fast to be healthy, but most of all unsatisfied.


	4. The heart wants what it wants

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, but all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai, and live in the universe she has created. She's just letting me borrow them for a while, to write this story which is part of her wolf-verse. **

**If you haven't read any of the stories from yay4shanghai's universe, you totally should, they're very well written and will have you hooked in no time! Reading her stories will help you understand this one, since it revolves around two of her characters. Phil, one of the six wolves who joined the pack**** just before the end battle in BD, and his imprint Tara. **

**AN:** Thanks to my beta yay4shanghai, she's awesome!  
**

* * *

**

The heart wants what it wants.

~*~*~

POV: Phil

~*~*~

With certainty I strode into the dance studio that Monday, I'd actually thought of a way to get to know Tara without having to deal with her girls yet. Sure I could take her out on a date, assuming she'd say yes of course, but she couldn't and probably didn't even want to spend so many nights away from home and her girls. That way it'd take ages to really connect with her the way I wanted to, and boy was I desperate to find out more about her, even the smallest things about her fascinated me, like what kind of shampoos she used and how long she had been dancing.

Spending last Saturday with Quil and his two sick children had taught me I really wasn't good with kids, I didn't just dislike them, I also had no idea how to handle them. They sensed that I disliked them and that the interest I showed for them was completely fabricated; kids weren't bright but they were observant. The main item on my agenda was postponing spending large amounts of time with her daughters as long as possible, if I sucked as bad as this weekend, every chance I had with Tara would be blown once she saw us interact. So she needed to be as attached to me as possible first, before that happened.

In my enthusiasm I had left home far too early, even after spending at least 30 minutes trying to figure out what to wear, then just giving up; as if my clothes were the issue here. It was a good 20 minutes before Maddox would be done, and I got to talk to Tara, so I situated myself behind the window again. Last Friday I had been completely focused on Maddie's dancing, how I'd been able to not notice the beauty in front of the class was a mystery to me, but now I was fully enjoying the view.

When she showed her class a step, involving a leg that swung up in the air, my breath hitched. The way she moved her body moved was so sensual, my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Damn, since when had ballet had become so freakin sexy?

This time I made sure my eyes wouldn't linger on any of the girls, the idea of her thinking of me as some freak getting a kick out watching little girls was revolting. Not that I had to work real hard at that, my eyes were glued to my gorgeous imprint without effort, willing myself to take my eyes away from her form was a lot harder to do. But I didn't want to appear creepy in another way, by staring at her for twenty minutes straight, so I made myself avert my eyes every once in a while.

When they were done I was surrounded by continuously chattering girls, but it didn't matter because behind them Tara stood in the doorway, her eyes scanning over them sharp-eyed. Now I realized she was making sure all of them were picked up and by the proper people, she kept one of the girls by her side when she noticed no one was there for her yet. My imprint was the sweetest woman on the planet.

She sent the girl back into the dancing area, where her own daughters were playing some sort of game where they clapped their hands together and sang along. Maddox ran up to me, a huge smile on her face, to throw her arms around me. It was something she didn't do often so I looked down at her trying to see what the occasion might be, she didn't reach higher than my middle but she held on tight.

"Did you think I did well Uncle Phil?" Maddie asked looking up.

"Uhm, yeah you did great." I hadn't been watching her during today's class, being a bit preoccupied, but I couldn't exactly tell her that.

"Can I play with Chloe and Ava for a few minutes?" That was actually pretty convenient, since the biggest reason I was here was to talk to Tara, suddenly I wondered if Claire had instructed her in any way.

"Sure, go ahead," she returned to the others, immediately taking her role as eldest, ending the argument Chloe and Ava were having about a sentence in the song, by instructing them how it was done.

The moment my eyes traveled over to where Tara stood by the doorway, I met her hazel orbs looking back at me. For a moment my capacity to think properly seemed to slip out of me, I might not be a ladies' man per se, but not knowing what to say was a new one for me. When I managed to get out of my stupor, I walked over to her, nerves rushing through my body like they were running a fucking marathon in there.

"Hello Phil, how's Harley doing?" Tara stood in front of me, her eyebrow slightly raised as she asked the question.

"Harley? Ah, yes, she not feeling completely well yet, but she's doing better." Harley being sick had nearly slipped my mind, until she asked me about it.

"Well, tell her I hope she feels better soon," Tara turned to head back to the girls, but stopped midway and turned back to me.

"Listen, I still feel bad about Friday, I was just looking out for Maddie, I really am sorry." She looked at me with regret visible in her eyes, completely unnecessary of course; she had just been making sure it was ok to let Maddie go with me.

"That's ok, I understand. I mean, what if there really had been some weirdo trying to pick up random girls, better safe than sorry right? At least I never have to worry about Maddie when she's here, since you're looking after her." I told her what I thought, but apparently I had said something right, because it earned me a smile so wide it made feel fuzzy inside.

"It's good to hear you're so concerned with her well being," she exclaimed.

"Yeah, and I'm glad you now know it's not in a creepy way, I'm really not that sort of a guy you know." That needed to be completely cleared up, couldn't have something like that hanging in the air.

"No, I know Claire told me Saturday! I didn't really think you were in the first place, it was nothing personal… I was just taking precautions." She was fumbling with her words a bit, trying to reassure me.

"So, you and Claire talked about me huh?" I flashed my teeth at her. A blush crept across her face, it was barely visible on her dark skin, but it was there.

"The subject might have come up, since Claire felt a bit guilty for forgetting to let me know you were coming," she recovered quickly, pretending I had barely been mentioned, but I'd seen enough to know that wasn't the case.

"Ah, of course, I see, that makes much more sense," I winked at her playfully.

"Are you implying something Mr. Lynch?" Getting into the little game we were playing.

Before I could answer, her eyes shifted to something behind me, her face growing serious. I glanced back to see who it was, an unknown woman came rushing towards us, her face flushed from running. The woman turned out to be the mother of the other girl that was still here, she apologized for being late, said she had some kind of an emergency. Tara smiled and assured her it was alright, that things like that happened sometimes and not to worry about it. When the girl left with her mother, Tara turned her attention back to me.

"Well I should probably go, get my girls home," she said, but she didn't move, remaining in front of me, her eyes on mine. This was it, she would go soon, and I had to do it now.

"Tara, I hope I'm not being to forward, but I was wondering if I could give you a call sometimes?" For a moment she just stared at me, before a hesitant look settled on her face, would she refuse?

"Uhm, that's ok I guess," with relief I let out the breath I'd been holding.

It wasn't exactly the reaction I was hoping for, but it was something. I grabbed my phone so she could put her number in there, she took it from me and punched in the numbers.

"I don't know how your phone works, but this is my number," she handed it back to me. I looked at the display and saw an unsaved number on it, quickly I entered her name and added it to my contacts.

"Great, I'll give you a call soon then!" I said enthusiastically, her expression told me I still had a lot of work cut out for me, as she almost seemed to regret giving me her number.

"Ok, I really need to go now though." I squinted my eyes, trying to read her emotions, but she smiled at me, sending me mixed signals.

"Right, I guess I'll take Maddie home too." Things would go better when I would call her, I told myself in an attempt to settle my rising panic.

We all headed outside together, the girls unaware of the growing tension between Tara and me talking busily amongst themselves. As Maddox and I got in my car, Tara and her daughters started walking, apparently she lived close by. Passing by them, I asked if they needed a ride, but she declined, telling me her apartment was just around the corner. So there was nothing left for me to do but drive off, hoping she would be more eager to talk to me tonight.

~*~

POV: Tara

~*~

"MOM!" My head snapped to Ava, who was yelling at me impatiently, roughly shaking me from my thoughts.

"Ava, you know I don't like it when you yell at me. If you want to ask me something, you can speak calmly," she looked at me like I had just told her to paint her hair purple.

"I've been trying to get you to listen for a whole hour!" Making a big circle with her arms to support her statement, for a three year old a few moments could seem like an eternity.

"She's right mom, you were gone in dreamland, for like, a looooong time." Chloe said backing up her little sister.

"I'm sorry for not paying attention Ava, what'd you want to ask?" I looked at my youngest waiting for an answer.

"I asked if I could wear my new pajamas tonight, the one with the pretty bird?" Last week we'd bought one she had picked out herself, with a picture of a hummingbird and a bright flower on the front.

"Sure sweetie, that's fine with me," happily she skipped off to pull it on.

"Did you dream about dancing?" Chloe asked excitedly, when her sister had left the living room.

"No, why do you think I was dreaming about dancing?" Confused I looked at my daughter and she sighed deeply.

"When I'm away in dreamland, thinking about dance, you always tell me I get a goofy smile on my face, your smile was goofy too just now." She shrugged and turned around, walking away to change into her night gown.

I looked at her disappearing from view as she stepped into her room, a goofy smile, yeah that sounds about right. Not dancing, but Phil was in my mind again, this afternoon he had looked even better than I remembered him, the image in my head didn't do him justice. Silently cursing myself that I had done it again, I pushed the thoughts away and went into Ava's room to help her. When both of them had brushed their teeth and were dressed for bed, I read them a story in Ava's room, before it was time for them to go to sleep.

I settled on the couch with the book I had been reading for the last weeks, the nights when the girls had gone to bed, were mine. Time for me to do what I wanted, or things that needed to be done that couldn't be done in front of the girls, like wrapping gifts to put under the Christmas tree. But right now, nothing needed my attention, so I could finally get to my book.

Just when I was comfortable, the sound of my ringtone startled me, instantly my heart started beating faster, would it be him? I jumped up from where I was sitting and frantically searched through my bag. Of course I came across every little thing in there except my phone.

"Fuck, where the hell is it?!" Finally my hand closed around the familiar shape and I pulled it out, noticing it had gone silent, great now I'd missed it. But when I looked at the display I saw there was already a connection, I must've accidentally pushed a button while rummaging around in my bag.

"Hello?" Quickly I pressed it to my ear, only to hear a deep grumbling laughter on the other end.

"Now Tara, that's no way for a mother to talk!"

I instantly regretted my sudden outburst, cursing was an abnormality for me, never ever letting those kind of words slip out when I was around the children, but every once in a while everyone let something like that slip.

"Phil?" His voice was recognizable for me, which was weird, considering I'd never talked to him on the phone, and hardly any in person for that matter.

"Yeah, it's me. Why? Are you expecting a call from another man?" It's me, that sounded so right, I practically swooned over him saying it.

"Sure I am, I'm conversing with all sorts of men throughout the night," having fun with my own joke, I felt the corners of my mouth turn slightly upwards.

"Really?" His sincere confusion was completely unexpected.

"No Phil, of course not! I don't give away my number to strange men, now that I think about it, how did you manage to get it out of me?" It was true, even right after I had entered the digits into his phone, I was irritated with myself for just giving it to him like that.

"I'm not a strange man, I'm Phil!" He replied smartly.

"Yeah ok, and what exactly do I know about Phil, oh right, absolutely nothing! No, you must have some weird magical power, in order to have persuaded me." Loud coughing came from the other end, I had to hold the phone away from my ear slightly, he was clearly choking on something he was drinking.

"Are you ok?" I asked when he seemed to have calmed down.

"Yeah yeah, I'm good. So no other men? At all? None?" He asked intently.

"Nope, I'm not exactly in a position to date," though for the first time since being single again, I really wanted to.

~*~

Throughout the week he called me every night, we'd talk about nothing in particular and joke a lot. We stayed on the phone for hours at a time, up to the point where I needed to plug in my charger to be able to keep talking to him, and he did the same at his end. We had gotten so comfortable with each other within such a short period of time, it was eerie, but the one subject that kept coming up was dating…

"Why not? Because you're a mother? Or is there something else that's keeping you from having a relationship?" Up until now these questions were fairly easy to answer, it didn't feel wrong to say I was satisfied with the life I had with my girls, but right now, I just couldn't bring myself to say it.

"Well yeah, it's because I'm a mom, my girls come first, always have and always will!" I said a little more forcefully than necessary.

"I'm not arguing that they shouldn't Tara, but just because they're your first, doesn't mean someone can't be your second right?" He was getting to me with these questions, he was looking at it way too rational, and I was beginning to falter.

"Maybe…"

"Ok, let's look at it your way, what age should the girls be for you to consider dating again? 12? 18? Or did you plan on never dating again at all?"

His questions were reasonable, but at the same time not at all, who was he to question me about this. But I knew as well as he did, there was something between us, even through the phone I could feel it. He simply wanted to know what his chances were, if he had any at all, and though I was reluctant to admit it, even just to myself, he did have a chance with me.

"I just don't know Phil, but it doesn't matter anyway, because what man is looking for a single mom to date?" I was wondering what he's say to that.

"Any guy, who doesn't want to date you because of your daughters isn't worth your time." That was the last thing I was expecting, I'd seen how grossed out he looked when he met my girls.

"Really, so you're ok with them?" I decided to question him directly on the subject, simply because I needed to know.

"Well, honestly I'm not the biggest fan of kids in general, but I'd be willing to try everything I could to get along with them." The honesty he answered me with was refreshing, the biggest part of me had expected him to evade the subject, talk around it, but I never imagined a straight answer.

"You would do that, despite not liking kids, why?"

"Because your worth the trouble Tara, without a whisper of a doubt." Oh god, this man had my insides melting, goose bumps rising all over my body, without even coming near me. Not having a reply to his last statement, I stayed silent and waited for him to talk again.

"So what do you say my beautiful girl, wanna give it a try?"

A million things started running through my mind, thinking of every reason to refuse him. But it was no use, my heart longed for him, my body ached for him, so moments later I heard myself answer.

"Yes."


	5. There's nothing like a first date

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, but all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai, and live in the universe she has created. She's just letting me borrow them for a while, to write this story which is part of her wolf-verse. **

**If you haven't read any of the stories from yay4shanghai's universe, you totally should, they're very well written and will have you hooked in no time! Reading her stories will help you understand this one, since it revolves around two of her characters. Phil, one of the six wolves who joined the pack just before the end battle in BD, and his imprint Tara. **

**The other spin-offs in yay4shanghai's universe, which are currently in progress, **_**Never Trust A Werewolf **_**by ARI11990 and **_**A Crash Course in Unspoken Confessions **_**by dll10**_**. **__**Keep Your Hands to Yourself **_**and**_** Make Up Your Mind **_**both written by liljenroc****ks,********are the completed spin-offs****. They're all very good stories and a lot of fun to read, so go check them out, they're listed in my favorites!**

**AN: **Give it up for my beta, the lovely and talented yay4shanghai! Congratulations on winning the Werewolf Award (best original character) in the SparkleAwards, with **_The Pathetic Ramblings of a Homosexual Werewolf!_**

* * *

There's nothing like a first date

~*~*~

POV: Phil

~*~*~

After a plain and simple yes, uttered by the sweetest voice I've ever heard, astonishment warped my brain. I figured she needed more time, more convincing, but she had said yes just like that. I was already running off with ideas on where I would take her, asking myself what she'd like, naturally I was moving way too fast. Completely ignorant, I told her I'd pick her up the next day, followed by another question about what sort of food she liked. She quickly put a halt to the workings of my over imaginative brain, by telling me she couldn't go, I had expected her to try and back out of it, but not that soon.

"Why can't you go? I mean whatever it is, you could do it another time right?" Nothing was as important as this date, well not as far as I was concerned.

"Uhm Phil, I can't go because I don't have a sitter for the girls." Right… her children, I had forgotten about them.

The whole week we'd been talking on the phone, they had drifted to the back of my mind, for a moment she had simply become Tara without any complications, that didn't last long.

"Of course, you can't get a baby-sitter on such short notice," I tried to sound not too disappointed, but even I could hear the disappointment in my voice.

"We could go next Saturday? I don't think it will be a problem to arrange our regular sitter to come on a Saturday night for once." Next week, that was so far away, I'd have to wait that long, because she was a mom and couldn't just run out the door whenever she felt like it.

"Sure, next Saturday sounds good." It didn't come out nearly as enthusiastic as I'd hoped, but it was hard for me to pretend I was.

Our conversation didn't last long after that, the remainder being awkward and uncomfortably silent, it wasn't much of a surprise when it ended quite abruptly. So unlike the other conversations we'd had this week, which had been light and fun, each and every one of them had ended sweetly. By the time she had broken the connection I realized I'd messed up, I would have to start all over again, or maybe even further down the ladder.

Sleeping that night was hard knowing she was upset with me, glancing at the alarm clock beside my bed I saw it was nearly two thirty a.m. and I was still tossing and turning in bed. What I wanted to do most was call her again, and apologize about a million times, hoping she could just see it as an honest mistake. I tried convincing myself that it wasn't a very big deal and actually started to succeed, by four a.m. I finally managed to get some sleep.

My lack of sleep caused me to wake up in the middle of the day, officially I had talked myself into believing she had hardly noticed my blunder, that I had been overreacting. But in the back of my mind there was a nagging, a distinct feeling at the end of our conversation that still lingered, telling me I was completely wrong.

The clock ticked away the minutes slowly as I waited for the moment that I could call her, she had informed me with what times the girls were in bed, but it seemed to take forever for the clock finally hit eight. Slightly apprehensive I dialed her number, hearing it ring eased my tension a bit, but when it kept on ringing it rose to a full blown panic. She wasn't picking up!

Could she be that upset?! No, impossible… right? It was the weekend, the girls would go to bed later, that was it. But wouldn't she just have told me to call back later, instead of leaving her phone unanswered? I waited another hour to call back; surely by nine the girls would be asleep.

Again she didn't pick up, this time another concern was added to the equation, what if she couldn't get to the phone because she was hurt? I kept trying to call her, each call closer to the pervious, but no response whatsoever. I walked over to Claire and Quil, they lived very close by, and it wasn't as if the distance mattered to someone like me. There I made up some sort of excuse about my phone not working properly, way too ashamed to confess what was really going on.

Claire called, Tara picked up, relief and aggravation running through me at the same time. She was perfectly fine, but clearly not talking to me, I strained to hear Tara's end of the conversation. Being unable to actually make out the words I watched Claire intently, seeing her expression shift, and shooting me an angry glare. Tara had told her in full detail about our conversation last night.

"Phil!" I stood leaning against the doorway of their living room muttering to myself about my screw up, when Claire snapped my name to bring me back.

"Yeah, I know." I sighed dejectedly, preparing myself for a scolding.

"She's really upset you know, how could you be so careless? You know how much her girls mean to her!" Claire scolded me, she was absolutely right of course.

"It was just a momentary lapse, I was just so thrilled she had agreed to go on a date with me, I didn't think!"

"I understand, but she doesn't, so what do you plan on doing now?!" There was only one thing I could think about doing.

"I'm going over there!" I pushed myself up and headed outside.

"Phil, do you really think that's a good idea?" Claire hesitantly asked.

"She won't take my calls, I need to talk to her, what else can I do?" When Claire remained silent, unable to think of something else I left, stripping out of my clothes as soon as I was out of sight, running towards Port Angeles.

~*~*~

POV: Tara

~*~*~

Again the phone rang, it was the third time he had called already, but I wasn't answering Phil's calls. During the day I wondered whether or not he would call me at night, I brooded on it all day, coming to the conclusion that my first instinct had been the right one. Not the kidnapper part of course, but the part about him obviously not understanding what have kids meant, this had clearly been a bad idea.

The moment I met him I had seen his reaction to my girls, I should have listened to my instincts, what business did I have getting involved with a man who doesn't like kids. Throughout the week I had managed to forget about that part of him, I cursed myself for doing that now, last night's conversation had served as a wake up call.

Normally it wouldn't be a big deal for someone who didn't have kids themselves, to forget that me going anywhere took planning, no spontaneous trips at all if they weren't coming with me. It was only logical, if you weren't used to dealing with something like this, you wouldn't realize I would have to. So it was only fair to say I wasn't necessarily mad at him, he was just being himself, I was more mad at myself for forgetting who that was.

So I had decided to break things off with Phil completely, before they got started, despite the fact that it made my heart feel as if it was being wrung out. These feelings would pass, it was inconceivable enough that I had them in the first place, I hardly knew the guy. Besides, if his aversion towards kids was so prominent, I wasn't the one he wanted anyway.

Finally he stopped calling, it hurt to know he had given up, but I knew I was making the right decision. Until Claire called I had been able to stay fairly calm, but when I had her on the phone everything came out, because I honestly wasn't ok. I had allowed myself to feel something for him, I had led myself to believe we could someday have something, and it hurt to have it all yanked away from me.

Claire just listened, she didn't agree with me or defend him, she understood my need to vent. After that I felt a little better, but I figured a hot chocolate wouldn't hurt either, maybe a movie. While contemplating my options, I heard light knock on my door, when I walked towards it I could feel my heart lifting. Through the peephole I could see it was Phil, knocking at my door late at night.

"What are you doing here Phil?" Before opening the door I tried to straighten my face, hoping to hide the terrible night I'd had so far.

"You wouldn't pick up." He wasn't explaining anything, solely that simple statement crossed his lips.

"So you came over? Did you take into consideration that I might not want to talk to you?" Ignoring his phone calls was one thing, but resisting him in person was something else entirely.

"Please hear me out Tara," he pleaded, his clear green eyes staring into mine.

Seriously, how was I supposed to withstand those eyes? The bright green contrasting with his dark hair and tanned skin, he was simply too appealing, quickly I averted my eyes and stepped aside so he could come in. His fresh smell reaching me as he passed, heading towards the living room.

"Nice place," he commented uneasy, obviously not knowing how to start, well I could help with that.

"You're not here to see where I live, you wanted to talk, so talk." I cocked an eyebrow at him, telling him silently to get started already, he nodded before speaking.

"You're right… Last night, I, I got a little carried away… I really like you. I was just happy that you agreed to go on a date with me, I forgot that you couldn't just step out whenever you felt like it, I'm not used to taking children into account." He sounded so desperate, but he hadn't said anything I didn't know already.

"That's just it, you don't have to get used to it Phil, there's no need to complicate your life like that. We're simply not suitable for each other, so it's better if we stop this before someone gets hurt." It was already too late for that, but the longer we kept pretending, the worse it would be when it ended.

"But we are Tara, we're perfect for each other. Don't you feel that?! I do, and I know you do to!" His outburst shook me, unable to speak I shook my head.

"If you didn't you wouldn't have been so upset about it, I can tell you know." He said smartly, I hated that he could be such a wise ass at a time like this, but most of all I hated him being right.

"It doesn't matter how I feel about you Phil, you don't want children, it's obvious! So it changes absolutely nothing!" He was only making it harder, couldn't he see that?!

"Tara give me a chance, I told you last night how I felt about all of this, and I meant it, please let me at least try!" Why was he being so difficult?!

"You should just let it go now, and save yourself the trouble!" He needed to let me go, because I could feel myself wavering already.

"Tara, I'll never give up, I'll keep trying until I get my date, so you can just as well give in now." I wanted to scoff at that, but his face told me he couldn't be more serious.

"I mean it Tara, I've never felt so strong about anyone, as I do about you." He took my hand in his, lacing our fingers together, that's when I felt how alarmingly hot his hand was.

"Wow, you're really sick!" The words left my mouth faster than I could think, his hand dropped mine as if it stung him.

"What?! I just held your hand!" Phil looked at me wide eyed, completely freaked out.

"That's not what I meant," I took his hand again, holding it between both of mine. Before reaching out to place the back of my hand on his forehead, and guiding him to the couch.

"You're burning up, you have a fever!" My mom instincts kicked in, instantly forgetting our argument, he was way too hot, he could collapse at any moment, I was surprised he was still coherent at all.

"Don't worry about me, my temperature runs a little above average," his answer was casual as he leaned back in the couch, but his eyes told another story, not making me any less concerned.

"Are you sure, it doesn't sound very logical to me," I eyed him warily; he wasn't feeding me some story to cover up some major illness or something? Though he didn't look sick at all, it didn't necessarily mean he wasn't. I plopped down on the couch as well, unsure of what to think.

"Yes, I'm absolutely positive. Actually I'm not the only one, Quil has the same thing, you can check for yourself." I would do that most certainly, and ask Claire about it as well.

His thumb gently rubbed over the back of my hand, halting any thoughts that didn't include him touching me. My eyes snapped up to his, where I felt myself drowning in the green pools that were his eyes. He lifted one of my hands to his mouth, without breaking eye contact, placing a soft kiss on top of it, sending shivers down my spine. Any resistance I might have had up until that point faded away under his intent gaze as he still held my hand.

"My sweet Tara, will you please give me a chance?" This constant battle that was raging inside of me was getting tiresome, and as most often when dealing with Phil, I found myself on the losing side of it.

"Why don't you stay for a little bit, so we can talk?" I got up to get the hot chocolate I had decided to make earlier, offering him some as well.

When I got back to the living room Phil was gone, squinting around with two hot mugs in my hands, I noticed the doors to the balcony were open. Stepping over the threshold I found him hanging back on the garden bench that stood on the small terrace, aside from a small table it took in almost all the space. Beside him, Phil had laid the blanket that I normally kept on the couch, for the many cold nights the winter in Washington was known for. It was almost April, so the air was gradually getting less cold, but it was nowhere near warm.

"It's a nice night, what do you say to enjoying our drinks out here?" it was still too cold to stay out here if you asked me, and as if on cue, I started shivering.

"Uhm, I don't know Phil, it's really clear and all, but I'm kinda cold." He patted the spot beside him and tilted his head to the side beckoning me to sit down next to him.

"Come sit with me, I'll keep you warm," he smiled his cocky grin, the Phil I knew from our conversations was definitely returning.

He hadn't been lying though, the moment I sat down with him, I started feeling warmer instantly. When his arm slipped around my shoulders as he put the blanket around us, the cold feeling disappeared entirely. Whatever argument we had to settle, I knew things between the two of us wouldn't be the issue, we clicked together perfectly there was no other way to describe it.

~*~

POV: Phil

~*~

She relaxed against me, as we sipped from out hot drinks; this was exactly what I had been craving so badly. Holding her close beside me, she was finally where I wanted her, the night wouldn't last forever, but being here together, under the stars, counted as a pretty good first date if you asked me. Eventually it got so late, Tara yawned against my shoulder, so I decided to go intending on making next week our second date, one where we would actually leave her house.

"This still doesn't change anything Phil, if you're so set on me giving you a chance, you can't avoid my girls forever." She said right before opening the front door to let me out, the idea that my skills with children would be the deciding factor of our relationship frightened me immensely, but I refused to give into it. Whatever I needed to do I would, nothing would stop me from making Tara my girl.

"I won't let you down Tara," I grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to me, nuzzling in the crook of her neck, taking in her intoxicating scent.

I ran my nose along her jaw line, up to her temple, when I traveled upwards I noticed her eyes were closed and she was trembling against me. I looked down on her perfect features, closing the distance between us. My heart pounded wildly inside my chest when she exhaled deeply and I tasted her hot breath on my lips, damn I wanted to kiss her so bad.

Barely touching, I brushed my lips against hers briefly, she gasped as the electricity sparked off of our slight connection. If that alone got me such an intense reaction I couldn't wait to see how it would feel when I really kissed her, but I wasn't sure whether this was the right timing or not. Before I could decide, she grabbed my face and crushed her lips against mine, I grabbed her hips and pulled her flush against me as our mouths moved together fiercely.

"You need to go home now!" She broke free from me, panting from the intensity of our kiss, stepping back deliberately.

"Yeah, that's probably best." I smiled widely at her, when she opened the door to let me out. "Don't forget about our second date Tara!" I chuckled at her confused expression and pecked her on the cheek lightly before I stepped outside. Happier than I'd been in a long time I ran back to LaPush at full speed.


	6. Time to face the music

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, but all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai, and live in the universe she has created. She's just letting me borrow them for a while, to write this story which is part of her wolf-verse. **

**If you haven't read any of the stories from yay4shanghai's universe, you totally should, they're very well written and will have you hooked in no time! Reading her stories will help you understand this one, since it revolves around two of her characters. Phil, one of the six wolves who joined the pack just before the end battle in BD, and his imprint Tara. **

**AN: **Thanks to my fantastic beta yay4shanghai, for helping me bring this to you!

OMG, I can't believe I did that, I posted the wrong document!!! I've reposted it, just so if you've read this already, scroll down to the bottom, there's a little something waiting for you ;))

* * *

Time to face the music, or in this case, the ballet

~*~

POV: Tara

~*~

"La Sylphide?" The moment she heard me say it, Chloe's head shot up.

To a regular, non-dance-fanatic kid, the name wouldn't have meant a thing, but Chloe knew her ballets, and this particular one had been on her to-see-list for almost a year. Her attention was evidently drawn away from the television, and the 102nd version of Cinderella she'd been watching, her eyes focusing on me, and the conversation I was having on the phone. Phil had just asked me to go to Seattle with him, to see the ballet La Sylphide, which was currently showing there and had gotten very good reviews.

I was torn, of course I wanted to see La Sylphide with him, but I knew Chloe would never forgive me if I went without her. As would Ava when she found out I was going to the ballet, but how would Phil react to it, if I suggested taking them. On top of that, Chloe was listening intently, so she couldn't know that I was making him take her and Ava along, I knew exactly how she could be, she'd definitely hold it against him. So I did something I never thought I'd do, I tricked him, pretending I misunderstood and thought he called to ask all three of us to go.

"Sure, we'd love to see La Sylphide, Chloe and Ava will be so excited to go!" Silence.

"Yes, yes of course, they're crazy about ballet, of course they would love to go." He muttered eventually, though it sounded more as if he was talking to himself, than to me. I felt guilty, but when I saw Ava's face brighten as Chloe undoubtedly whispered in her ear, that we were going to see a famous ballet, I knew it had been worth it.

"Thanks so much for inviting us Phil, it was really sweet of you to think of the girls!" If he was taking all of us, the least I could do was make him feel good about it.

"Sure, no problem. So, I'll take care of the reservations then?" I could tell he needed time to process this sudden change in plans.

"That would be great, thanks again Phi!" Still paying close attention to me, Chloe stepped closer, but just when she was about to say something, Ava rushed past her, to bounce up and down in front of me.

"Mom? What's lesefide about?" She asked eagerly, pronouncing it as good as was expected of a three year old. Ava's voice was so cute, but sometimes people had a hard time understanding her. She lisped adorably, dragging out the 's' and had a hard time with the 'r' as well, pronouncing my name Tala instead of Tara.

"It's La Sylphide!" Chloe corrected her wisely, as always, when Ava managed to turn a word into something completely different. Ava hardly heard her and was looking up at me, patiently waiting for me to answer her.

"It's about a Scottish farmer who falls in love with a magical sylph, like a fairy, and leaves his fiancé on their wedding day, for the sylph. An old witch gives him a scarf, which would keep the sylph from flying away, with which he binds the sylph, wishing her to stay with him forever. But as he does, her wings fall of and sadly, she dies. The heartbroken farmer is left alone, and has to see his fiancé marry his best friend." I explained slowly.

"Aw, poor farmer, was he alone forever then?" She asked. That was Ava, always concerned for another person's, or animal's for that matter, well being. It warmed my heart to see her care so much about all things living.

"Who knows, maybe he fell in love again one day, but that's not part of this story." She nodded understandingly, a serious look settling on her face, before she skipped off towards her room, probably fantasizing about the farmer falling in love again.

"I don't think he fell in love again." Chloe said suddenly, her face serious and a little worried.

"Why not honey?" I wondered where all this was coming from.

"He fell in love with the sylph, he can't fall in love again, he's supposed to be with her!" She crossed her arms in front of her chest and offered me a cute pout, as her eyebrows knitted together above her beautiful grey eyes. Then I understood that this had nothing to do with the story, but with Nicholas and me.

"Come sit down with me Chloe," she looked sad, because she knew this story didn't have a happy ending.

In her eyes her father had ended up alone when we left him, as did I, just like the farmer had in La Sylphide. According to her, we belonged together, and she still held hope that we would be again one day. Now she was worried that me, or him, would fall in love again, eliminating that possibility all together. She was too young to understand, that whether we did or didn't find someone new, we would never be together again.

"I think it's ok for people to fall in love again, when they no longer are with the person they loved before. Or do you think they should grow old, sad and alone?" I looked at her, trying to figure out what was going on in that pretty head of hers, since it was obviously working very hard.

"They don't have to be alone, they could just fall in love with the same person again, couldn't they? I mean, isn't love supposed to be forever?" Now it was her turn to look at me expectantly.

"Maybe, that could happen for some people, but very often they can't, like the farmer whose love had left the world. And as much as we want and hope it to be, not all love is forever, sometimes love lasts a lifetime, and sometimes it doesn't." It was sad for me to have to say this to her.

On one hand I wanted her to understand love wasn't as perfect as it was painted in many stories, poems or songs, so she would stop hoping for something that won't happen. But on the other hand I wanted her to be an almost six year old girl, seeing pink hearts, rainbows and silk clouds when dreaming of love, imagining herself being swept off of her feet by her very own prince charming.

"Are you in love with Phil?" My mind went blank for a moment, how did she pick up on that so fast?

"Wh- What?" I was stuttering because she had taken me by surprise. I knew she wanted to discuss me and her father, but I hadn't entered Phil into the equation.

"Phil, are you in love with him, you were all smiley and twinkly eyed when you were talking to him on the phone." Her stare not faltering, as she pierced my eyes with hers.

"No sweetie, I'm not in love with him, but I like him very much, so maybe I will someday." She considered my answer for a moment, before asking the key question, the one I'd been asking myself all along.

"What if Ava and me don't like him, will you fall in love with him then?" The horrible thing was, I was falling for him already, so there was no way I could answer her question truthfully. This was hard, because despite the fact that they were still very young, I tried to be as honest with them about pretty much anything as I could.

"Chloe, you and Ava will always come first, you're my girls and I love you both more than anything and anyone, always remember that." It was the most basic of truths I could provide, and it was the same thing I had told Phil. She smiled and nodded solemnly, stretching her arms out for a hug.

"I love you too mommy," she said softly as her head lay on my shoulder, squeezing her arms around me tightly.

I fought to keep tears from falling down my face, my precious girl, so sweet and sensitive, but also very serious and vulnerable. Maybe it would be good for her to have a father figure in her life, but Nicholas sure as hell wasn't providing it, she needed to see what a healthy relationship was like. Now more than ever, I felt guilty about my selfishness where it concerned Phil. A relationship with him should only be an option if the girls were ok with him, her current state of distress proved that.

These last few days, our kiss had been a constant element of my daydreams. While he had barely touched me, I had grabbed him full force and literally attacked his mouth. It had been painfully obvious that I hadn't been filling my man-quota, for quite some time now. But mainly it was him, who brought out such a strong reaction in me, I simply hadn't been able to get enough of kissing him. Despite whatever my brain was trying to tell me, I had been wishing to get my lips on him again, as soon as possible.

~*~

POV: Phil

~*~

Oh fuck! I hadn't been expecting that, I should have though. For one, her girls were just about as crazy about dancing as she was, and, she had told me to stop avoiding them. Now I didn't have a choice, I was taking the three of them to Seattle, a two and a half drive there and back. Then there was the show itself, which lasted another two hours, so basically I would be spending the entire day with them. I'd thank whoever was up there, on my bare knees, if I survived this weekend!

The ride to Seattle seemed to last forever, I'd been responsible and loaned an old car seat Michael and Anna still had in the back of their dusty attic. Of course they'd been surprised and curious, but left it alone for now, as Michael put them in back seat properly. They were more for show than sefety, with my reflexes, the chance of getting into a car accident were practically nonexistent, but apparently her youngest, didn't like it very much, when she was confined to one of them. Ava, that's her name, I'll never forget after today. Tara had to call her name at least once every ten minutes, for the past hour and a half.

Whenever she wasn't fidgeting with the seat, trying to unbuckle it, she'd talk. And when I say talking, I mean nonstop chattering, accompanied by regular high pitched shrieking. This occurred, whenever she thought of something relevant to whatever story she was telling, though it was hard for me to decipher what they were even about. Have you ever tried to focus on driving, while there is an extremely bouncy three year old parked in the seat behind you, if you haven't don't judge me! According to Tara, she was an active girl, but the best I could do was trying to maintain calm and not call her annoying and loud.

There was one upside about the little bundle of energy, she had no problem with me whatsoever, and didn't seem to pick up on my awkwardness. She'd even occasionally address me, asking me something that seemed totally random to me, but apparently important to her. When she asked me if I liked animals and if I had any pets, she really made me laugh. I suppose it was a normal question for a kid, but it was completely hilarious to me. My answer that I did like animals, but didn't have any pets because I believed they should run around free in nature, seemed to please her very much.

If I ever got used to her hyper active nature, I might be able to get used to the girl, but I imagined my patience would be tried a lot harder during the rest of the day. When our little moment was over, she started whining to Tara again, about wanting out of the seat. Inhaling deeply a few times, I thought to myself that I shouldn't jump to conclusions like that. While she had been somewhat amusing a moment ago, she was totally getting on my nerves now.

Her sister Chloe's presence, didn't bother me very much, she was pretty quiet the entire way. Occasionally she'd talk to Tara, but most of the time she sat staring out the window, looking at all the green we rushed past. One thing was certain, one would never be able to accuse her of being noisy. I was able to see her through the rearview mirror, and I caught her throwing glances at me, when she thought I wasn't looking. They were not so much curious, as rather disapproving, I wondered what I had done to receive such negative reviews.

Finally having arrived in Seattle, I parked the car not far from the theatre, so we could proceed the remaining distance on foot. Since we had planned to get a bite to eat before it would begin, we had made sure to get here early, not wanting to deal with hungry children right in the middle of act 1. On top of that, I was sure no one would want to hear the loud grumbling of an empty wolf stomach, so it was pertinent that I got some food in me as well. Still well on time, we entered the theatre, after stuffing our bellies in a restaurant nearby.

As I scanned the big foyer, leading up to the seating area and the stairs to the balconies, I noticed there were hardly any children among the visitors. The ones that were, all seemed to be a lot older than the two little miniature ones we had with us. Pictures of a screaming Ava, mad Chloe and numerous angry spectators, annoyed by the loud disturbance, flashed through my head. Maybe I should have lied and told them it had been sold out, man oh man, what have I gotten myself into?

"Phil!" The tugging of a tiny hand, pulling at my pinky, brought me out of my rising panic attack. I looked down on a happily smiling Ava, who was attached to that very same hand.

"Mommy says we're up here! Come on, I wanna sit next to you, so I can explain the story to you!" She started pulling me along the row where our seats were, I was baffled at the way she was with me, confused I looked up at Tara, who shot me a happy grin.

I was less amused by the way Ava had situated herself between Tara and me, luckily she was very small, so I could place my arm on the headrest to reach Tara. Chloe sat down on Tara's other side, during dinner I had officially drawn the conclusion that she didn't like me at all, and she was showing me she didn't by ignoring my presence all together. Now she was staring angrily at her little sister, who was perfectly content with her place and currently telling me what the story was about. To my surprise, the hardly understandable toddler, had more knowledge on the piece than I did.

When the chairs around us filled slowly, a woman sat down in front of Ava, she wasn't particularly tall, but to Ava she might as well have been a giant. Ava didn't whine, but climbed up to her knees and whispered in my ear, telling me I could sit next to her mom if she could sit on my lap. That's how we watched the first act, Ava on my lap and me holding Tara's hand, drawing lazy circles on it, often sneaking a peek at her, the entire hour. We reached the break between the two acts, without a single incident, the girls had been too engrossed with the ballet, to utter even a single word.

"Oh look Bernard, what a cute little family!" The woman in front of me gushed to her husband, gesturing at us.

"Thank you!" Ava smiled cheerfully.

Neither Tara nor I mentioned it, because it had been horribly awkward, both of us seemed to agree on steering clear of the subject without discussing it. Afraid the girls would need to use the bathroom soon, she decided to take them now, so she wouldn't have to stumble past everyone with a kid in tow. At most public events the ladies room was overly full, unfortunately this time was no exception, making it necessary for them to wait in line. As they did I listened to their conversation.

"Ava, why are you sucking up to Phil, he's not even nice?!" That confirmed it, Chloe couldn't stand the sight of me.

"Chloe! Don't say things like that, when you have no idea what he's like, you've barely said two words to him! I'm not saying you have to like him, but you can't say things like that, if you don't know whether it's true or not!" Tara scolded her oldest daughter.

"No mommy, it's ok. She doesn't know that he's just scawed of us, he doesn't know anything about us, so we have to teach him!" Ava replied to her mother, lisping tremendously along the way. Had she just told her mother that I was scared of them?! This girl's mind warped me! She had seen through me, almost instantly.

Now that I knew I had no reason to worry about them during the ballet itself, I was a lot more relaxed during the second half, and I didn't even mind Ava's insisting on sitting with me again. The ride back went a lot smoother, since Ava was so exhausted, she fell asleep within the first fifteen minutes. While Tara let in Chloe, I carried Ava inside, it wasn't that I wanted to do it necessarily, but I wanted to say goodbye to Tara in private. After the little one was in bed, and she had sent Chloe off to get ready for bed, I got my chance.

I pulled her close to me, wrapping my arms around her waist, this time there was no doubt or hesitation in my actions. I smiled down at her, watching that beautiful faint blush compliment her high cheekbones as I trailed my fingers across the side of her face, all the way down to her chin, which I nudged upwards when she tried to look down.

Slowly but deliberately I pressed my lips to hers, last time everything happened in a rush, this kiss I wanted to savor. As I ran my tongue over her bottom lip, she lowered it, parting her lips for me, instantly deepening the kiss. Her hands crept up my chest and grabbed my shirt, as our movements became more urgent with each heartbeat. I was utterly disappointed when I heard the shuffling of footsteps drawing nearer, forcing me to break our connection.

I said a sad goodbye and my heart beat three times faster when I saw she was just as disappointed to let me go. I drove home without further incident, still tasting her on my lips.

I lay in bed thinking about today, it hadn't been nearly as dreadful as I had suspected. I had gotten nowhere with Chloe, both of us not making any effort to communicate with each other, but I didn't think I had made anything worse for myself. With Ava on the other hand, I was sensing the early stages, of what could be a friendly sort of relationship. She had made me rethink my view on kids in general today, something none of kids in the pack had been able to do, so maybe there was hope yet.


	7. Monkey business

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, but all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai. You can find her fabulous stories, as well as the very good spin-offs written by ari11990****, dll10, Guzhong and liljenrocks, in my favorite list, so**** go check them out!**

**AN: **Last time I updated, I posted the wrong document by mistake! I reposted the right one, and some of you have probably already read it, but some of you might not. At the end of it, there's and additional scene, there's no need to read the entire chapter, just the last bit.

As always, I'm utterly grateful to my beta yay4shanghai!

* * *

Monkey business

~*~

POV: Tara

~*~

We were anxiously awaiting Phil's arrival, he would be here any second. Chloe and Ava were bouncing off the walls for very different reasons than I was though, both of them were very enthusiastic about the ballet, the fact that it was all the way in Seattle only added to the thrill. As much as I was trying to focus on the show I would be watching today, my mind kept going back to worrying about how Phil would be with the girls. Crossing my fingers every ten seconds, wishing it would go well, I watched him pull up in front of the building.

My heart was racing; how things would go today, would tell me whether it was worth contemplating a relationship with Phil. Honestly, I didn't see how it could be anything but a disaster. The few times my little ones had come up in conversation, he'd gone quiet, he hated that he had to take them today, I knew it. He never said it, but he didn't do a very good job hiding it either, I don't even think he realizes how obvious he can be when it comes to the subject of kids.

The fact that someone could dislike kids in general I found incomprehensible, sure there were a lot of little brats out there, but that didn't make it ok to write them all off. As a little girl, being an only child, I always wanted brothers and sisters, but they never came. Eventually it sank into me that it would never happen, that's when I decided that I would marry a wonderful sweet man, and create a gigantic family of my own. Dancing threw that dream off the path I envisioned for myself, but after Chloe was born, I realized it was still my heart's desire to have a lot of children.

Of course things didn't go as planned, but secretly I kept alive the hope of meeting my real Mister Right, with whom I could still make my wish come true. It's not that the being mother of Chloe and Ava wasn't already living the fantasy, but I always thought that if I ever were to commit to another man again, it would be a man that would want to add to the little family we were now. Even if he got along with them reasonably well, I could never picture him wanting to have more babies. The moment I heard the sound of the doorbell, I realized I was running way ahead of myself again, as I have a tendency to do.

While I went to open the door, I tried to keep the girls in the living room, though I didn't know why I even bothered. Both of them were at my heels, and I could feel Chloe's scrutinizing gaze on me at all times, watching my every move. It was perfectly natural for them to be so curious, they hardly noticed him whenever he came to pick up Maddox and Harley, they wanted to get a good look at him, but I was a bit reluctant about greeting him with them present. I had told them I liked him, but I wasn't sure what sort of reaction would be initiated if he kissed me in front of them.

He seemed to understand my reluctance to get close to him, and settled with pecking me on the cheek quickly, as soon as they were running ahead of us, as we stepped outside the building. Still appreciative of him being discreet, I was pleasantly surprised by the car seats installed in his car. He had even made sure that they would match their ages. After I helped Ava into her seat, and checked that Chloe had correctly fastened hers, I got into the passenger's seat next to Phil.

"Where did you get the seats?" They looked a little faded, but were still working properly.

"I borrowed them from friends of mine, they still had them tucked away in the attic, since they haven't used them for a while." Apparently he was the only one amongst his group of friends that had taken to disliking kids, I wondered what was behind it.

"How many kids do they have?"

"They have three, triplets actually."

"Whoa, they must have their hands full!"

"They're pretty self-sufficient now I think, since they're turning eleven this summer." He stated casually.

"Well, they've certainly outgrown the seats then!" I chuckled, trying to picture a twelve year old sitting in one of these.

"Yeah, so uhm… I can keep them as long as I need." Wow, was this Phil telling me he intended to take all of us out again after today? That was so sweet. Anxiousness visible in his eyes as he looked at me, I couldn't help but give him an encouraging smile, he really was trying very hard.

"Well, it was really nice of them to let you borrow them," I hoped he would be able to use them more than once.

"It was, though it did cost me." I raised my eyebrow at his statement, cost him how?

"Anna made me promise to bring you and the girls by, in exchange for using them. Not that you'd really have to, if you'd rather not." He grinned, clearly amused by my confusion.

"Well, maybe I do, we'll see." Smiling back at him, slightly relieved he hadn't actually paid for them.

During the ride I could see Phil getting irritated with Ava's non-stop babbling and whining about being in the car seat, she hardly ever rode in a car, so she wasn't used to being tied down in one. I could also see him making an effort to listen to everything she said, which was pretty much impossible if you wanted to keep your sanity. I loved her cheerful spirit, how she always looked at things from the bright side, but she could talk your ear off. Dinner did not go especially well either, while Ava was being perfectly agreeable now that she was released from the dreadful chair, Chloe wasn't making a secret of her disapproval of him, while at the same time he was barely acknowledging her.

Things took a huge turn for the better once we arrived at the theatre, Ava had decided she liked Phil, something I was exceedingly pleased about. Taking his hand, sitting on his lap, it was clear that despite her sister's discouragement, she was really starting to bond with him. It was such a cute sight, Ava appearing to be even smaller than she was, compared to Phil, who was positively huge. Though it was abundantly clear that she was the one who had taken him under her wing, with the way she was explaining to him what the story was about.

When a nice old lady commented to her husband about what a cute family we made, I felt Chloe practically jump out of her skin next to me. Seizing her hand before she could not so politely point out to the old lady, the fact that we weren't a family at all, I gave her a warning look, telling her not to go there. But in the bathroom, during the break she couldn't keep it in any longer, and took it out on Ava.

"Ava, why are you sucking up to Phil, he's not even nice?!" The message as well as the language in which she delivered it appalled me.

"Chloe! Don't say things like that, when you have no idea what he's like, you've barely said two words to him! I'm not saying you have to like him, but you can't say things like that, if you don't know whether it's true or not!" The thing was, it wouldn't have mattered to her who Phil was, or whether he was nice or not, no man would have been good enough for her.

"No mommy, it's ok. She doesn't know that he's just scawed of us, he doesn't know anything about us, so we have to teach him!" Ava said as if it were the most logical thing in the world, as if even a blind man could see it.

The rest of the play, Ava had been utterly content leaning back against Phil as she claimed her place on his lap again, but when he carried her out of the car, in which she had fallen asleep at the beginning of the ride back, my heart melted. Our outing had exceeded my every expectation, I couldn't be more happy about it, especially when Phil used the few single moments we had alone to his advantage. This entire week I'd been looking forward to another kiss from him, but this one couldn't be more different than the last.

From the moment he held me against him, my heart started thumping in my chest, feeling my knees almost give out when he caught my lips with his. This kiss was deliriously slow; he took his time, demanding access to my mouth with his tongue, while his hands roamed my back, traveling south to my ass, which he squeezed lightly. He brought parts of me alive that I thought had gone to sleep forever, desire overwhelming me, I clung to his neck desperately. Unfortunately that was when Chloe decided to join us, normally she'd wait in her room for me to come and read to her, but no doubt she wanted to make sure Phil left.

~*~

POV: Phil

~*~

A faint ringing woke me, drowsy with sleep, I reached out to the area the noise was coming from.

"Phil here." My throat dry from sleep, made my voice rough and parts of my greeting disappear.

"Are you coming to the zoo with us today?!" A small high pitched voice reached my ears, just dropping into the conversation without any form of introduction.

"Ava?" I could be mistaken, but I was fairly sure that it was her calling me.

"So are you coming or not? The Ateara's are coming!" She squealed enthusiastically, still ignoring pleasantries.

"Uhm, sure, I can come along." I was still getting over the shock that she'd actually called me.

"Yes!" She screamed loudly forcing me to hold the phone away from my ear, "here's mom!"

"Guess you said yes, huh?" Tara's voice sounded through the receiver.

"Yeah, guess I did."

It had been four weeks since the ballet, and we'd talked to each every night since then. I came by every few days, and on nights she didn't have to teach I stayed for dinner, enjoying her wonderful cooking. Ava and me were settling into some sort of friendship, as far as one could exist between a three year old and an adult, she was making it really easy for me to like her. Chloe and I still weren't on good terms, though she was no longer rude, but I still hadn't the faintest idea on how to make her like me more. Maybe I would get my chance today.

~*~

"Ava's really happy that you came with us." Tara stated suddenly.

We were walking over to the monkey rock where the kids were currently gathered, attempting to imitate them by loudly screaming ooh-aah and scratching their heads and armpits. Quil was playing along just as hard, jumping up and down like a crazy person, making all of them, including Claire, who stood a little to the side, smile in amusement.

"You're not?" I said teasing her as I squeezed the hand I'd been holding from the moment we entered the park.

"Who me? Of course not!" Playfully I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back against me, while placing small kisses on her neck.

"You wanna rethink that statement?" Still holding her, as she made a few futile attempts to get free, she giggled as she failed miserably.

"Phil, I had a point you know!" She uttered, trying to sound serious.

"Well alright then, let's hear it," I replied instantly taking her hand back in mine again, the moment I let her out of my embrace.

"It was her idea to ask you to come today, she really has grown attached to you." Her statement made me think, and as weird as it was, I think I was starting to enjoy her company more and more each time I saw her.

"Well, she's a cute kid, I like her too." I admitted as we reached the girls.

"Did I just hear you say that Philip Lynch?" She asked jokingly, trying to hide the fact that she was clearly very pleased with my response.

Just when I was about to answer, a sudden movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. It all happened very quickly, Chloe was swaying her arms wildly, trying to hold her balance at the edge of the water surrounding the monkey rock. Some little punk standing behind hem had pushed her forward, with the intention of making her fall in. I rushed forward, grabbing her by the arm, yanking her back. The boy guilty of the crime, ran off at the sight of me, fearing for his life as I angrily glared at him.

"Are you ok?" I asked Chloe when I released her arm, afraid that I had hurt her by holding her too tight, but she seemed ok. She stood gaping at me, her mouth hanging open, until she snapped it shut and nodded.

"What happened?!" Tara was at our side, without me registering her approach.

"That boy almost pushed me in the water!" She was sobbing into her mother's arms.

I was surprised that she was so upset, a moment ago she'd been fine. She told me so herself, well nodded, but still. Tara soothingly rubbed her back, trying to calm her down. See, this was exactly the sort of shit I was talking about. Why would she tell me she was ok, when she clearly wasn't? I did not understand Chloe at all, that much was for sure.

Thankfully, the rest of the day passed without incident. Ava and Addison started complaining they were tired, so Quil and I put them onto our shoulders, until it was time to go. We got into the car, the car seats still in the back, it looked like I wouldn't be taking them out anytime soon, and went to the Ateara house, where Claire and Tara would cook. Ava was fully revitalized after sleeping in the car, something she was starting to make a habit of, she was jumping and running around again.

"Mom, can we stay the night?!" We were about to leave, I would be dropping them off at home again, but the girls had other plans.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Tara hesitated.

"Come on mom, Claire says it's ok. Please, please!" Suddenly I saw an opportunity.

"Why not, I'm sure Claire and Quil don't mind, and they don't have school tomorrow." I shrugged my shoulders casually.

"Yeah ok, I guess it's not such a bad idea." She looked at me confused.

I had never interfered when it came to her dealing with the girls, so she was extremely surprised I did now. I had ulterior motives, for one, I'm sure Chloe wouldn't think worse of me for helping her and Ava, and for two it meant, that Tara was alone tonight. That is, if she wouldn't be with me, something I hoped would be the case. When Tara finished discussing it with Claire, she turned to me again.

"What was that about?" She asked me suspiciously.

"The truth? Well I thought it would be fun for them." I tried to keep a straight face, but I felt the corners of my mouth turn upwards.

"Yeah yeah, now the truth if you will!" She demanded with a smile on her face, so that's exactly what she got.

"The real truth, is that I was hoping for some time alone with you. Maybe you could come over to my place, you still haven't seen it, plus it's close by in case you're needed." I felt like I was trying to sell her the idea. As I watched her carefully, I could see she was embarrassed.

"That would be nice wouldn't it," she said, cocking her eyebrow coyly.

Nerves were tying knots in my stomach as we got in the car, we'd said goodbye to the girls, and were now heading for my place. Barely driving a couple of minutes, I pulled up to my house, and parked the car in front of the garage. I didn't want to seem presumptuous by putting it inside, what if she wanted to go home later, nobody had mentioned her sleeping here. That was just something I had concocted by myself.

She was in awe when she stepped over the threshold, money wasn't exactly my favorite subject, so I hadn't mentioned that I was kinda set for life in that department. Now she had drawn the conclusion by herself, as she walked around in the living room. When she had recuperated from the shock, I gave her a tour of the house, hoping she'd like it since it was meant to be hers as well some day.

As I led her to the master bedroom, the last part of the tour, I could feel the anticipation build up in the pit of my stomach. Holding open the door for her, she hesitated a little before moving through the doorway. She took in her surroundings, her eyes landing on my huge custom-made bed, I hated having my feet dangling off the bottom, the way they did with regular sized ones. Wondering what she was thinking, she turned to me, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Can I?" She asked eagerly.

"Sure," not giving a damn about what she meant, I watched her take a few steps back, curious to what she was up to.

Leaning back a little, she launched herself forward, ending butt first in the middle of the bed, laughing hysterically. Walking over to the bed to join her, I sat down next to her, shaking my head at her cheerfully. I couldn't believe how adorable she could be.

"I'm sorry, it just was too tempting to resist, I had to check if it felt as good as it looked! I guess being around children every day, has kinda rubbed off on me," she smiled exuberantly as she let herself fall onto her back, stretching out completely. I think that was the first time that she mentioned kids and it had a positive effect on me.

"And, has it earned your approval?" Awaiting her answer, I moved over her, playfully pinning her under me.

"It has," she giggled looking up at me, her smile slowly fading from her face.

Her heartbeat quickened, as the joy in her eyes shifted, swiftly being replaced by desire. Now that I had her in my bed, I wasn't about to let her go again. Lowering my head to kiss her, I saw her eyes close and her mouth open a bit, inviting me in. Capturing her bottom lip between mine, her breath hitched when I drew it into my mouth slightly.

Her hands grabbed hold of my hair, pulling me closer to her, to deepen the kiss. My hands gripped her hips, as my head dipped down to her neck, placing soft kisses in the hollow of her throat, moving further down towards her breasts.

When I softly nipped one of her nipples through her shirt and bra, she gasped, arching her back to meet me. My body immediately reacted to hers, I could feeling my jeans grow uncomfortably tight. Unhappy with the amount of clothes still separating us, I grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulling it over her head.

Within moments, nothing but a pair of skimpy panties, and my boxers, were left. Drinking in the sight of her, I hovered, wanting to admire her for a moment longer.

"You're so fucking perfect!" I breathed as I lowered myself back on top of her, supporting my weight with my elbows, brushing my lips over hers once more, before taking her left nipple in my mouth.

"Ah, Phil!" A loud moan escaping her lips. I switched to the other side tracing her hard nipple slowly.

Removing her last piece of clothing, the scent of her arousal caught me. My fingers ran along her slick folds, her wetness instantly driving me crazy, as I entered her with my finger. She was wet and warm and perfect. My need to be inside her stronger with each passing minute, I reached to grab a condom from the bottom drawer of my nightstand, but she stopped me.

"There's no need, I'm on the pill," she said barely audible.

Not wasting another second I rid myself of my boxers, and I placed myself in front of her entrance, searching her eyes for any sign of hesitation. When there wasn't I slowly entered her, not wanting to hurt her, but there was no need, I smoothly slid into her, enveloping myself in her softness.

As I thrust, Tara's hands clawed my back, urging me to move faster. Picking up the pace, as I pumped in and out of her, she reached her climax. Tara's walls tightening around me, were enough to bring me with her, with a few more trusts I felt myself release.

Still breathing heavily, I collapsed on top of her, making sure not to put my full weight on her. After pulling out of her, I rolled onto my back, pulling her with me, holding her close to me. She fell asleep, I felt perfectly content having her so close to me, so it didn't take long before I felt myself drift off as well.


	8. Opening new doors

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, but all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai. You can find her fabulous stories, as well as the very good spin-offs written by ari11990****, dll10, Guzhong and liljenrocks, in my favorite list, so**** go check them out!**

**AN: **Exiting news, another spin-off has been added to the universe! Last Friday, dll10 posted the first chapter of her new fic, Promises of Forever about Melody and Taylor. The first chapter was really good, it instantly had me looking forward to the next ;)

As always, a big thank you to my amazing beta, yay4shanghai!

* * *

Opening new doors

~*~

POV: Tara

~*~

"Mommy! Can Phil come too?!" Ava bounced up and down in front of me, giving me a pleading look.

"He can, if he wants too, but I'm not sure if he does," it was so sweet of her to want to include him in our little trip to the zoo, but I didn't want her to be disappointed if he said no.

"Can I call him?" I nodded and she ran to get the phone, clenching it tight in her little hand, she demanded to punch in the numbers herself.

One by one, I showed her which button to push, her face scrunched up in concentration as she performed the task at hand. Eventually it rang, causing a smirk to settle on her face, obviously very pleased with herself. The moment he picked up, she just blurted out an invitation, I stifled a laugh, as I saw anticipation spark in her eyes. She really did want him to go with us, and much to my relief he agreed to join us, fairly quick even. Ava practically threw the phone at me in excitement, assuming I'd take care of the arrangements, which I did of course.

It was a fun filled day, getting better exponentially when Phil told me he was starting to care about Ava, like she was growing to care for him. The little drama that belonged on a day like this, was also accounted for. Because a boy, slightly older that Chloe, was being incredibly mean, and tried to push her in the water. Phil was by her side instantly, he had seemed to move at lightning speed, at my side one moment and preventing her from actually falling the next. She was still too baffled by Phil's actions, too distracted to be upset, but the moment I asked her if she was ok, she launched herself into my arms.

As I held her close to me, I saw Phil's confused expression, accompanied by a tinge of insult. He took it personally that she had just told him she was ok, but then blatantly airing her distress towards me. Not understanding that for a child to let themselves be comforted by someone, they needed to trust that person first. While she wasn't ready to show the vulnerable part of herself to Phil yet, I could see that he had stepped up a notch on her ladder, by looking out for her just now. She wasn't used to having someone other than me, be concerned for her well being, so I'm sure this must have been really huge for her.

After dinner at Claire and Quil's our plans altered, for the better I might add. The girls would be spending the night at the Ateara's, I was a bit reluctant to give my permission at first, but when Claire assured me it wasn't a big deal, I gave in. The prospect of a night off, spending it with Phil, was too appealing to resist. When we arrived at his place, I was totally amazed at how huge it was, not that I was a materialistic sort of person, but I couldn't help myself when the thought 'wow, this guy is rich!' flashed through my brain.

As he showed me around his beautiful house, I found myself picturing two of the rooms upstairs as Chloe and Ava's, thinking to myself that they would be perfect for them. The thought vanished when I stood on the threshold of his bedroom, the enormous bed placed in the middle, just calling out my name. The sheets looked smooth, and the thick mattress had to be bouncy, I was just dying to see if it really was. I tried to reign in my inner child, but it was no use, and the next moment I heard myself ask for permission to use his bed as an air castle.

There was a mixture of amusement and curiosity visible on his face when he told me I could, and after that there was no stopping me. I leaped as high as I could, sending a rush of adrenaline through my veins, before I felt myself land in the middle of the bed, were I let myself sprawl out, enjoying the silkiness of the covers. I felt like a little girl in a playground, but when he joined me on the bed, it disappeared replaced with embarrassment.

Phil moved on top of me, and the elated feeling I had a moment ago, made room for something else entirely. When he saw the shift of emotions as it took place, he kissed me, igniting certain parts of my body as he did. I hadn't been with a man in, well, since Nicholas, but now I could think of nothing else than being with Phil. Forgetting all sensibility, I gave into my needs and let him pleasure me, like I never had been before.

~*~

Bright sunlight shining through the window was blinding me, I squinted, focusing to make up my surroundings. Still in the process of finding my bearings, I realized I was being held by two amazingly strong hot arms, Phil's to be exact. Last night's events being played out like a movie in my head, I reveled in my current state of deliria, remembering Phil's hands on me and the feel of his body against mine. He had brought me back to life, taking me to great heights, and now I was relishing the fact that my body felt gloriously used.

"Hey baby, how did you sleep?" Phil whispered softly in my ear, placing sweet kisses from my ear to my jaw line, as he pulled my back closer to his chest.

"Hmm, wonderful, though I must admit, I'm totally parched." I hadn't realized how dry my throat was, until I tried to talk.

"Fuck! Of course you are!" He leaped out of bed, and disappeared from the room, seconds later he returned with a large water bottle, which he handed to me.

"You need to hydrate, I'm surprised you didn't pass out on me last night." Concern evident in his voice as he watched me drink.

"Pass out? I think you're overestimating yourself just a tad there Phil," I chuckled. Pass out, did he think I was made out of glass?

"It's more common than you think, you know, with my high temperature." Common huh, I wonder how many women he's made lose consciousness, if he's able to call it common.

"Is it now?" Fishing a little, but not wanting to ask after his laundry list.

"Yeah, I told you I'm not the only one, I'm sure Claire also has some experience with it." Right, that little detail had slipped my mind for a moment. Now the seed was planted though, and of course I wouldn't be able to let it go.

"And you, how many women have passed out in your bed?" He flushed, and started stammering.

"Ah, well, uhm, a few?" Making it sound like a question, he looked at me like he hoped I wouldn't ask any further. I wouldn't right now, but him being vague about it, wasn't a good sign in my book.

We made it over to Claire and Quil around noon, I felt a little guilty, knowing the girls had been awake for a couple of hours. But when we entered the living room, they were completely engrossed in a movie, and didn't even notice we'd arrived. It was a sight one didn't encounter too often with five children present, so we enjoyed it as long as it lasted, and sure enough, Ava caught sight of us and jumped up enthusiastically. A little over one, we headed home, not wanting to impose on the hospitality of Claire and Quil any longer.

"So, next week when I see Anna, she's gonna ask me again when she's gonna meet you, can I tell her you'll be joining me the next time I stop by?" Cocking his eyebrow, Phil leaned against my doorpost, seeing as he was just about to leave.

"Sure, I guess that'll be ok."

~*~

POV: Phil

~*~

"Anna, Michael, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend Tara, and her daughters Chloe and Ava." As Anna beamed at me happily, I tried to gauge Tara's reaction. Looking at her intently, I heard her heart skip a beat, but it was the twinkling in her eyes that told me she liked it that I had introduced her as my girlfriend.

"It's so good to finally meet you, Phil has told us so much about you!"Anna exclaimed, just then a loud ruffling announced Melody, Devlin and Levi's descending on the stairs.

A moment later they appeared and introduced themselves, or rather Melody and Devlin did, Devlin always did the talking for Levi when coming in contact with strangers. Him being deaf, made it hard for him to interact with those who didn't know sign language, so Devlin generally served as a buffer. Melody took the girls under her wing, instantly infatuated, they happily followed her around. Ava sneaked a curious glance at Levi every once in a while, instantly noticing there was something different about him.

Anna had been looking forward to meeting Tara, she'd been extremely pleased about my imprint having children, telling me it would be good for me. The looks on her and Michael's face had been priceless when I had asked them for the car seats, instantly questioning my motives. Michael almost passed out from howling with laughter, when he found out. Of course he quickly regained his composure, when Anna scolded him for it.

Now I looked on as Anna asked Tara an endless series of questions, she was rather protective of me, sometimes acting as if she were my mother instead of my friend. But each time I called her on it, she simply said that someone had to look out for me, if not her, than who would. Though there was no need to worry about Tara, she was my imprint, she had to be perfect for me. Just when I was about to rescue Tara from Anna's inquisition, the conversation turned to the father of the girls, a subject I hadn't dared on skimming even superficially, so I closed my mouth and listened.

"So, he's still in Miami?" Anna asked pointedly.

"Yes he is, or at least as far as I know he is," her face turned somber at mentioning him, did she still have feelings for him.

"You don't let him see the girls?!" Was Anna's sudden response.

"I'd never keep their father from seeing them, it's him who doesn't show any interest, he didn't even care when I told him I was moving to the other side of the country. Other than a monthly check, _we_ don't hear from him!" Tara was clearly offended by Anna's assumption.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I just wanted to make sure there wouldn't be an angry husband coming after Phil anytime soon." Anna was like a bulldog when she was after something, while still apologizing, she was already trying to extract more information.

"No angry husband, no husband at all, we were never married," Tara said consciously.

"So there wouldn't be any problems if Phil wanted to, oh let's say, adopt them in the future?" Anna finished casually.

A big lump rose in my throat, making me swallow hard, she had just brought up the heaviest subject I could imagine, as if she was asking Tara for a simple cake recipe. Tara also seemed to be taken aback by that question, just a little while ago I'd been pleased about calling her my girlfriend, now they were talking about me adopting her kids. I had thought nothing could be moving too fast where Tara was concerned, but clearly there was.

"I suppose not, I'd be really surprised if Nicholas would try to stand in the way of anyone wanting to adopt the girls." Tara answered the question without involving me even in a hypothetical situation.

Apparently Anna was satisfied, she'd reached her goal, having made sure the path was clear for me to move along. I felt bad for letting her put Tara through this, but I'd learned so much in just a few minutes time, I hate so think it was worth it, but it was. The air soon cleared, after closing that specific topic and nothing but the gentle caring Anna remained. We even ended up staying for dinner, since it almost seemed like the entire conversation never happened, except for the fact that I was repeating it inside my head.

"So, what did you think of Anna and Michael?" I asked suddenly.

We sat in her the living room, there was some movie on TV but I hadn't really been watching. She hadn't let me stay the night yet, usually I just left really late, but after she'd spend a night at my place, I hoped the other way around would happen before too long. I realize it was different, because Chloe an Ava would be here, but they understood what was going on between us and wasn't there a first time for everything.

"They're great, you can tell they care about you a lot." Tara's reply seemed genuine enough, but I wasn't satisfied yet.

"So you didn't mind when Anna asked you all those questions?" I assumed she wouldn't be too thrilled about her as a person, after all that.

"Well, to say it was pleasant would be lying, but she did it with good intentions, she was just looking out for you. As a good friend should, she had a point… there are a lot of issues on the table, when dating a single parent. It is good that to see, that she's even willing to ask the uncomfortable questions, if she feels it's necessary." She raised her eyebrows at me, asking me if that was sufficient explanation.

"Can I ask something too?" Now that the shell was breached, it couldn't hurt to get a few questions in myself, right?

"What do you want to know?" She shifted, turning to me, letting me know I had her undivided attention.

"What happened between you and him, Nicholas?" His name tasted dirty in my mouth, I could barely get myself to say it.

"Well, nothing much really, that was kinda the problem. I met him when I was really young, and I moved in with him as soon as I'd graduated, I remember thinking how lucky I was, finding the love of my life at 17." She let out a cold laugh.

"Things were fine really, until Chloe arrived, he went on with his life as if nothing had changed, while mine had done a complete one-eighty. I loved being a mother, but our lives grew more separate, his career always remained his first priority. When I became pregnant with Ava, I realized there was nothing left between us. I started making arrangements with which he even helped me, and before Ava was six months old, I moved out, and came here." Sadness painted her words.

"Wow, so Ava doesn't even know him at all, I mean, has he even seen them after that?" She shook her head.

"Chloe probably can't remember him either, maybe flashes of memories are still there, but not the person. It's the image she has of him she holds on to, that's why it's so difficult for her to let you in her life, she still has hope him and me will work things out." Fear ran down my spine, was there?

"Do you think something like that could ever happen?" Noticing I was holding my breath while awaiting her answer.

"Absolutely not, the fact that he hasn't shown an inch of interest in them for three years, is enough for me to write him off. But aside from that, we just don't work, I had placed him on a pedestal, but it has crumbled by now." Infinitely relieved, the air whooshed out of me, she saw and chuckled softly.

"Did you think you'd be here right now, if there was any chance of working things out with him?" She had a point, she wouldn't be getting involved with a man if there was still another in the picture.

"No, not really, but I couldn't help but be concerned for a moment there," I pulled her against me, the need to have her close suddenly overpowering.

That night was the first night I stayed there, her bed wasn't as big as mine, but I would gladly have my feet hanging off the bed, if it meant she was there by my side. While she fell asleep in my arms, thoughts I'd never had before entered my mind, thoughts about the future, it wasn't so hard to picture the girls in there anymore. It would probably be really good for them to be living in LaPush, having their friends close by, being part of a tight community like that. I wondered how Tara would feel about it. Today Anna had opened a lot of new doors for me, but the more important part was, that I realized I would gladly walk through some of them.


	9. Real smooth Phil

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, but all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai. You can find her fabulous stories, as well as the very good spin-offs written by ari11990****, dll10, Guzhong and liljenrocks, in my favorite list, so**** go check them out!**

**AN: **A very special thank you to my extraordinary beta yay4shanghai, I truly admire your devotion

* * *

Real smooth Phil

~*~

POV: Tara

~*~

"Stay..." I breathed between kisses, as his lips moved over mine with a fiery intensity.

The word that had been lingering in my brain for the last couple of hours, finally passed my lips, though barely more than a whisper. Things between Phil and me had changed tonight, there was nothing subtle about it, it had been abrupt, and very clear. It was Anna who had tore open my past, digging in without reserve, determined to find the bones that had been buried there. But it had been Phil who had carefully laid out the pieces, gently brushing off the dirt and uncovering the truth. There weren't any promises made, though it felt as if we had, which was significant enough to want him to stay with me tonight.

The door had already been ajar, in the middle of our habitual good night kiss, which usually lasted over a good 15 minutes, when I said it. It wasn't a question, it wasn't a demand, it was just one single word, but it represented so much more than that. Him spending the night here, was entirely different than it had been the night I slept at his place, this meant I invited him into my family. Though the girls were asleep, and not a part of what was happening now, they would be in the morning.

"Are you sure?" He pulled back just enough to look at me, his bright green eyes piercing mine.

"Unless you don't want to," maybe he had no interest in waking up, and having to deal with Chloe and Ava in the morning.

"Of course I want to!" He said, pointedly shutting the door behind him.

As I took his hand in mine, I turned and pulled him along with me to the bedroom, it was nowhere near as extravagant as his had been, but it was mine. Removing pieces of clothing as we closed the door behind us, he pressed me up against the wall, after letting my panties drop to the floor. Fervently kissing me, sucking on my lower lip he lifted one of my legs, so my left foot rested against his shoulder, while I was standing on the toes of the other.

"I wanted to try that ever since I saw you do that move in your dance class," Phil rumbled between pants, his husky voice sending shivers down my spine.

A moment later I felt him in me, entering me only with his tip first, slowly filling me as he moved deeper. Unleashing every ounce of sexual tension I had been building up, after the first time we'd been together, which apparently was quite a lot. Damn, this man was truly gifted! He knew just how to move, to hit the exact right spot, to send me into a frenzy, desperately craving that delicious release. That climax had been the first of the many that followed during the night.

~*~

Still woozy, I grabbed onto the kitchen counter top, inhaling deeply in order to regain my balance, after having downed at least three glasses of water. Guess he wasn't kidding when he said women regularly passed out on him, and supposedly Quil, I had yet to ask Claire about that. Which after tonight I would most definitely, but I couldn't help to do some research on my own, it was 5 a.m. everyone including Phil was sound asleep. As soon as my vision cleared, I refilled my glass again, and headed towards the living room, where I grabbed my laptop.

Settling on the couch, I googled a high body temperature, there was a lot to be found, but each and every one was described as a fever, which occurred whenever the body was fighting off an illness. The illnesses could be varying from a simple flu, to the worst of diseases out there. The average human body temperature was 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, but could be anywhere between 97.7 and 99.5, in a healthy state, Phil was a lot warmer than that.

After almost an hour, I'd found nothing remotely close to what it could be, that would make his body heat that extreme. Determined to get an answer, I snapped shut my laptop, and got up, leaving it there on the couch. Grabbing the ear thermometer from the medicine cabinet, I marched into the bedroom, where Phil was still asleep, good! Hovering, trying not to wake him, I placed it in his ear, and pressed the button, waiting for the device to give me a result.

"Tara, what are you doing?" Phil mumbled sleepily. Then a loud beep sounded, his eyes flashed open, but by the time he figured it out, I was already staring at the display.

"108.2?!" That's impossible, he should be dead, cooked, fried, whatever… But not asleep, appearing as healthy as one can be. Completely ungraceful I plopped onto the bed next to him, resting my head on my knees.

"Tara, what did you do?" Phil was sitting up straight, eyeing me warily.

"I took your temperature, what did you think I did?!" My heart was racing, breathing became difficult, something was so terribly wrong here.

"That's nothing, I told you, we Quileute's run a little hotter," he chuckled, but stopped the moment he took in my expression.

"It's not funny Phil, there's no such thing as running a little hotter at 108! 108 Phil, that's not normal, a temperature that high indicates a person is dying!" This wasn't the first time a thought like that entered my brain, but now it was more than a strange feeling, it had grown into a full blown panic.

"Baby relax! You need to calm down for me, I'm not dying, I promise! Here look at me, do I look like I'm dying?" His arms wrapped around me, he was gently rubbing my back, trying to soothe me as much as he could.

"Swear to me you're not Phil, tell me you're ok! I can't lose you, do you understand me, I can't!" The thought of him leaving this world, was beyond painful, it felt as if someone was squeezing my heart, crumbling it until there was nothing left.

"You're not losing me Tara, I'm not going anywhere, I won't leave you… ever." The last word, he spoke very softly, I almost thought I'd imagined it, but I was positive he'd actually said it.

He held me until I fell asleep again, but without offering me any kind of explanation, there was something very weird going on here, though for the life of me, I hadn't a clue what it could be.

A light touch over my cheek woke me, my eyes fluttered open, focusing on the face in front of me, it was my little Ava's. She stood next to the bed, leaning down enough, so her face was only an inch or two away from mine, which she was playing on with her fingers. A smile crept over my face, I had told both of them countless times that I didn't like to wake up to screaming early in the morning, this was the alternative, which I preferred.

"Mommy? Are you awake?" She whispered softly.

"Yes sweetie, I'm awake," pushing myself up, I sat up straight, then I noticed Phil was no longer in bed.

"Mommy, Phil is making breakfast!" She said excitedly. Quickly I got up, heading towards the kitchen, while Ava trailed behind after me.

"Don't you know how to do anything?!" Chloe huffed at Phil as she shuffled around the contents of a sandwich.

Phil was indeed making breakfast, but with every move he made, Chloe was only one step behind, apparently she didn't approve of his arranging style. They worked silently, side by side, but certainly not in peace, they were shooting angry glares at each other, obviously irritated with the other. As I stood in the door opening, confused, I watched them bicker, until they noticed me.

"Good morning," both of them said at the same time, though not in unison, making it sound slightly weird.

"Good morning, uhm, you two shouldn't have made breakfast, I could've done it," I said hesitantly.

"Nah, it's no problem, right Chloe?" Phil nudged her side playfully, but her face only darkened.

"No, no problem at all!" She said way too sarcastic for a five year old.

While we ate, things didn't improve much, Chloe was obviously upset that she had found Phil here this morning, but as long as he was, discussing it would be useless. Thank god we were going to the playground in LaPush today, that way she could let off some steam. While I talked to Claire at the same time, since what happened this morning, horrible ideas kept invading my mind, I needed answers, and I needed them now.

~*~

"Ava, please be careful!" That girl was going to give me a heart attack one of these days!

"Yes mom!" She replied obediently, but a moment later she wasn't paying attention anymore, it was a good thing she was so agile, she hardly ever actually fell.

"How did dinner go with Anna?" Claire inquired, I hadn't talked to her last night, and she knew we had been going over there.

"Really good, well, after Anna made sure I wasn't hiding an angry husband in the closet, that is. Can you believe she asked me what their father would do if Phil wanted to adopt the girls!" I chuckled, remembering her persistence.

"Yeah, she can be like that with some of them, so what did you tell her?" Suddenly very curious.

"I told her if someone, wanted to adopt them, I wouldn't expect him to care." Which I didn't, but picturing Phil adopting them seemed very unreal to me.

"He spent the night," I suddenly blurted out, not completely understanding why I had.

"He did? At your place, while the girls were home?" I could tell she was surprised.

"Yeah, do you think it was a mistake? I really don't know him that well, I just wanted him to so bad, but now I'm not sure." Looking at Claire for an answer, she shook her head.

"You're the only one who can decide that Tara, but I can tell you he's a good guy." My concerns about him were slowly bubbling to the surface.

"If he's such a good guy, how come he says things like it's common for women to pass out on him, due to his high body temperature?!" To my surprise Claire started laughing.

"The body heat, yeah, that's tricky. One of the downsides of sharing your bed with a wolf!" She continued laughing, not realizing I was looking at her completely stupefied.

"What?! What do you mean, wolf?!" As abruptly as she started, she stopped laughing, clasping her hand over her mouth, as her eyes grew wide in shock.

~*~

POV: Phil

~*~

Did she just say wolf?! Both mine and Quil's head turned, looking at our two women, on the bench at the side of the playground. As I met Claire's eyes, she gave me an apologetic look, for accidentally calling me a wolf in front of my unknowing imprint. Now things were really fucked up, especially after this morning, which had been horrible enough on its own.

Apparently Tara didn't buy it when I told her I ran a little hotter than most, she had actually researched it, to find nothing that would explain it, except me being sick. Measuring me at 108.2, she had freaked out completely, afraid I was dying, it had been close to impossible to calm her down. I knew then she wouldn't let it go, but how could I have known it would get worse? Claire wasn't used to hiding the wolf thing like we were, and when Tara had talked so knowingly about the side effects of my body heat, it had just slipped out.

Suddenly everything was happening very fast, Tara and Claire screamed loudly, their eyes fixed on the top of the climbing frame. Following their stare, I saw Ava losing her balance and toppling over, within an instant I was beneath her, catching her before she could fall to the ground. Her heart beating like drum, Ava threw herself at me, sobbing onto my shoulder, the poor girl had just had the scare of her life. When I looked up at Chloe, who was till up there, her eyes wide with amazement met mine, and a big smile appeared on her face.

"Wow! Mom, did you see that, Phil was just like superman on tv, where he gets all blurry!" She screamed loudly at Tara, who was now approaching me fast, almost running.

"How did you? What just? Ava baby, are you ok?" When she couldn't find the words, she turned her attention to her daughter, who met her with teary eyes and nodded.

"He's superman or something, that's how he did it! Right Phil?" Chloe had climbed down some, to be at eye height, where she proudly beamed at me.

"Chloe, Phil is not superman!" Tara said a little angrily.

"How do you think he did it then?!" Chloe asked her mother cockily, challenging her to come up with a better answer.

"Well, he… I don't know, but he's not superman! Right?" Full of doubt she looked up at me. This was it, it couldn't wait any longer, I would have to tell her today.

"I'm not, not even close. I think it's best we move this to my place and call Mark in, just in case." I said to Quil, who nodded in agreement.

Unable to explain why, I realized I felt sad about having to tell her, fear and anxiousness were there as well, but the sadness was stronger than the rest. Until now they hadn't been a part of my life as a werewolf, blissfully unaware of my duty to the tribe, and with them, it was as if I had been able to escape from it momentarily as well. Mark arrived at my place, not long after we'd called them, bringing Jordan along with him. Explaining to Mark all three had witnessed me run at full speed, he thought it best to tell all of them at once, kids generally dealt better with the supernatural than adults did.

They let me do the talking, but were ready to add or interfere, should the need arise. Tara listened, without uttering a word, the raising of eyebrows and widening of eyes, were the only indicators that she was listening. I asked Mark to phase in the back yard instead of me, to show them what we were, not wanting to freak her out even more, by exploding into a giant wolf in front of her. Though the girls were clearly fascinated, Tara's face grew pale, her eyes filled with dread, which filled me with fear of losing her. When Mark came back inside he noticed the look of horror on Tara.

"Tara, are you ok? Will you say something please?" Urging her to respond in some form at least, I grabbed her hands, holding them tight.

"This is why you're so warm, this is why you are so incredibly fast, you're a… a werewolf, because you need to protect the people of LaPush from vampires? How could you do that Phil?! Why would you get involved with me, letting me grow attached to you, endangering my children like that?!" Her voice soft but firm as she accused me.

"No it's not like that, I'm not dangerous, I would never hurt you or the girls!" Did she think I would, or could even?

"And what about those vampires, couldn't one of those hurt them or me?!" Tara demanded, conveniently bringing up another subject I wanted to discuss.

"They could, but that hasn't got much to do with me. In fact, right now my occasional presence, is the only protection I've been able to offer you. If you and the girls moved in with me, you'd all be much safer, there's plenty of room here anyway." Mark raised his eyebrows at me, questioning my actions.

"Maybe you should tell her about imprinting too, she'll probably understand your reasons better then." Mark said calmly, squeezing my shoulder reassuringly.

She heard me out while I told her about the way wolves could imprint, as a way of finding their soul mates, that it from the moment a wolf looked into the eyes of that specific person, a connection was established. I made sure to tell her it wasn't like love at first sight, so she wouldn't doubt the sincerity of my feelings towards her, when I told her I had imprinted on her the day I met her at the dance studio.

"That's why my need to be near you and protect you is so strong, you're my soulmate," I concluded.

"You imprinted on me, you're not a danger to me or the girls in any way, and now you want me and the girls to move in with you, so you can protect us better?" She questioned, making sure she'd gotten it all.

"I did, and yes I want you and the girls here, I've been a wolf for quite some time now, I'm completely in control of my phasing activities. And beside the fact that I am an experienced wolf, and therefore perfectly capable of protecting you and the kids, there are other pack members here as well, only adding to your safety." I sounded very convincing, if I did think so myself.

"How long have you been a werewolf exactly?" Tara pressed on, her mind at work trying to make sense of things.

"Almost thirty years, which makes me 41…" Tara's jaw dropped, hearing someone doesn't age, is different than actually seeing a guy looking like he's in he's twenties, tell you he's actually in his forties.

"Anything else I should know about, now that we're at it, we might as well finish it." She sighed and let herself fall onto a chair.

"Wolves, vampires, imprinting, I think we covered it all," I said casually, believing I had won the battle.

"Good, then it's my turn now. You drop a bomb on me this big, expect me to instantly be ok with it, and then ask me to move in because that was it's easier to protect us? I don't think so Phil. I need time to think, we've been fine in Port Angeles, so that's where we'll stay, convenience has never been on my list of motivations to move in together. Will you take us home now?" With that, she took her girls by the hand, and walked outside.

"Real smooth Phil!" Mark chuckled.


	10. You only want me for my DNA!

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, but all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai. You can find her fabulous stories, as well as the very good spin-offs written by ari11990****, dll10, Guzhong and liljenrocks, in my favorite list, so**** go check them out!**

**AN: **Spin-off news, another addition to the yay4shanghai universe! It's a Ava and Eli story, it's called The Complicated Steps to a Simple Love, written by intiMACYx33. Go check it out!

As always, a big thanks to my beta yay4shanghai!

* * *

You only want me for my DNA!

~*~

POV: Tara

~*~

"Ava!" The moment I saw her fall, my heart stopped, she was up way to high to come out of this unscathed.

Then, after seeing a figure rush by at inhuman speed, Phil was there to catch her. My brain stuttered, had I just seen that right? Suddenly nothing made sense anymore. Chloe was over the moon about her discovery that Phil was in fact superman, I didn't fail to notice, that in her opinion, he wasn't all that bad anymore. It couldn't sound more ridiculous, but then how had he gotten to Ava so fast? I needed to lay off the cartoons, if I was seriously considering him to be a superhero of some sort.

The reality turned out be somewhat different, in a way I couldn't have expected. Apparently he could transform into a giant wolf at the drop of a hat, and he wasn't the only one. This unique feature he and his pack members shared, made them run extremely hot, gave them supernatural speed and strength, in order for them to be able to fight off vampires. I felt as if I was dreaming; having a nightmare perhaps, stuff like this just wasn't real. But then Mark his Alpha, actually gave a performance, making it impossible to deny, even to myself.

So far I was a lot of things, angry for my girls and me being put in danger, astonished that something like this could be real, and honored that I was Phil's imprint. Then when offended was added to the list, I needed to get out of there. Only that morning, I realized how strong my feelings were for him, when I thought I'd lose him. But after being asked to move in with him, for no other reason other than to make protecting us easier, it hurt. Feeling the tears burn in my eyes, I requested him to take us home, after refusing his oh so generous offer.

He drove me home, in complete silence, neither of us uttering a single word, not even Chloe or Ava dared speaking. Upon arrival Phil begged me to hear him out, to let him explain, refusing to leave otherwise. So I asked the girls to watch a movie in the living room, in order for Phil and me to talk privately in the kitchen, which they agreed to instantly. I hardly ever got mad, but if I did it was serious, they knew that better than anybody, so they were probably relieved my anger was pointed at Phil, not at them.

"Well, get on with it, I'm listening!" So irritated with him, but even more with myself, why was I such a romantic fool?!

"Tara, it's not like that, I want you to move in with me!" Phil stated desperately, as he moved closer to me.

"Is that so? Are you sure about that? It sounded to me as if you were worried about protecting your _imprint_!" I stressed the unfamiliar word, while stepping away further, putting the dinner table between us.

"Of course I'm sure, and yes, the fact that it's easier to keep you safe, doesn't exactly hurt." If he were smart, he'd shut up now, before he dug himself in any deeper, but of course he wasn't.

"Why Phil? Why are you so concerned with keeping me safe, why is it that you are so attracted to? Are you telling me it's because of this _imprint_?! Why would you need to imprint anyway, you're a successful, attractive male, can't you find a partner on your own?" His reasoning was making me more mad with each passing second, and I could tell he was getting agitated too.

"Dammit Tara, of course initially it was because of the imprint, but now my feelings for you are my own, I care for you a lot! Besides, I'm more than capable of finding my own mate! I've never had a problem getting women into my bed, but imprinting is more than that, an imprint is supposed to be your perfect match, even genetically!" Fury roared alive inside of me, this was the last thing I'd expected from a man who actually disliked children!

"What did you say?! Am I nothing more than an incubator, supplying the right DNA?! Get out Phil! GET OUT NOW!" My heart lurched, did I mean that little to him, did he only want me for my genetic makeup?!

"No, NO! That's not what I said! You don't understand! I love you!" My hand moved on its own accord, slapping him hard across his cheek, making it burn and throb in pain the next.

"Aww, Fuck! That hurts!" Rubbing my palm, hoping to ease the pain, tears sprung from my eyes.

"Shit Tara! Are you ok, have you hurt yourself?"

"No Phil, I didn't hurt myself, you did! Now leave, I want you to go!" Sobbing uncontrollably, though my tears were no longer induced by my suffering hand, I made him go.

I locked myself in my bedroom for a good thirty minutes, I allowing myself to drown in misery, and bawl my eyes out, before returning to the girls. They would be worried, they would've heard me scream, I needed to let them know I was ok, even though I really wasn't. How could I have let myself fall for him so easily, so quickly, only to have my heart be broken for the second time? Though I had known Phil for less than two months, this time it hurt infinitely more, than it had with Nicholas.

"Mommy, are you ok?" Chloe crawled onto my lap, Ava on her heels, joining her in my arms as well.

"Yes, I'm fine, don't worry. I'm just a little sad, that's all." Both of them hugged me tight, their arms wrapped around me, giving me the comfort I needed.

That night was horrible, unable to catch any sleep, I fought with the blankets as I tried to get comfortable; it was no use. I kept on wishing Phil was here to hold me, his warmth surrounding me, lulling me to sleep, and then cursing myself for needing him that badly. He had chosen to tell me he loved me, for the very first time, after telling me he needed my capability to provide him with the services of my womb, it could not have been more badly timed. Though the fact of the matter was, it had made me realize I loved him too, which made it even worse that he wasn't with me now.

When Claire appeared on my doorstep the next morning, I was utterly grateful, I'd been going crazy without someone to talk to. Claire would understand better than anyone else what I was going through, since Quil was a pack member as well. It made me wonder if Quil had imprinted on Claire too, he always seemed very much in love with her, but I couldn't imagine Claire being ok with being a mere reproductive device, and I couldn't imagine Quil seeing her as only that.

"Please tell me Phil didn't send you, cause I'd hate to make you leave again," overcome by desperation, I looked at her.

"Though he was very pleased that I was going, I came here out of my own initiative, I thought you could use a friend," she stated, compassion visible in her eyes.

"In that case, please come in, because I definitely can use a friend right now!" leading us into the kitchen, I poured us some coffee.

"Tara, you look horrible, did you sleep at all?" I shook my head in response.

"I can't stop thinking about him Claire, I'm so mad at him, but I can't help it, I miss him too much!" And I told her what happened yesterday, earning nothing but her understanding.

"Can I ask you something about you and Quil?"

"Sure, what do you want to know?" She said calmly.

"Do all wolves imprint, has Quil imprinted on you?" I asked hesitantly.

"Not all of them do, but more and more do, and yes, Quil has imprinted on me." She confirmed.

"What's it like for you?"

"It was very different for me, I've known he was a wolf almost my entire life, though I didn't find out about the imprint until I was older, I've only known him as the caring protective person he is today," she explained.

"He imprinted on you when you were a child?" That sounded absolutely wrong, but she seemed so at ease, I figured I must not have understood correctly.

"Yes he did, it happens a lot on the rez actually, imprinting happens when a wolf sees his soulmate after he's phased for the first time, no matter how old he or she is. Quil was like a big brother to me at first, after he became my best friend, and eventually…" She trailed of, a big smile across her face.

"Don't you ever feel used, maybe that's too harsh of a word, but unappreciated or something?"

"No I don't, Quil loves me more than anything, I'm his world, though it did raise some issues around the time I graduated. I wanted to go to college, see the world, but I felt guilty towards Quil, he'd been waiting for me his entire life, and that would mean making him wait even longer. When he found out about my worries, he insisted I fulfilled my dreams, and even came with me, since being away from each other was too hard." The way she told it, you'd think she was the center of his universe, not at all as how I had interpreted it yesterday.

A few hours talking later, after letting me ramble on about Phil and his horrific behavior, for as long as I needed, she left again. It had helped, it had made me understand some of it, but the empty feeling I had ever since Phil left yesterday, remained. And no matter how good an advocate Claire was on his behalf, I couldn't forget his words, which still stung. Why is it that human beings are so much more inclined to believe the bad, rather than the good?

~*~

POV: Phil

~*~

Man oh man, I was in some deep shit! Angrily I gripped the steering wheel, leaving marks on it by squeezing too hard. It was as if I was slowly digging my grave, preparing to lie in it, if Tara would never forgive me. If only it were possible to turn back the clock, I could take back everything I said today, starting with this morning, the moment I encountered a sleepy Chloe in the kitchen.

"What are you doing here?!" She had angrily spat at me, while Ava stood behind her, peering over her sisters shoulder.

Clearly my shuffling around in the kitchen had not gone unnoticed. My intention had been to make breakfast for them, for Tara to take her mind off this morning, and for the girls to make it a little easier that the found me here in their house. But I had failed miserably, making way too much noise as I wasn't used to being quiet, I had woken up the girls, without having prepared anything at all.

"I was making breakfast, maybe you could help me, I don't know where everything is." After that she had reluctantly helped me, and had been terribly hostile while doing so, irritating me more with each word that crossed her lips, until Tara had caught us arguing.

A horrible start to a horrible day. Instead of letting her know how I felt about her, I had suggested she'd move to my house, so it would be less of a hassle to look after her. It hadn't been my intention to make it sound like that of course, but it had, so I shouldn't have been so surprised when she refused, but being a totally ignorant jerk, I had been shocked.

At her place, I had made another attempt to get her to understand, but naturally I had only made things worse. Like a fool, I had let myself get worked up, and my pride steer me, instead of my heart. Telling her that I'd had plenty of women, when she made jabs at my ego, with her 'can't find a partner without an imprint' comment, which had been a huge mistake. On top of that, I had told her that she was my perfect genetic match, making it appear that I was interested in the children she could give me when nothing could be further from the truth. Hell I wouldn't even mind if she was infertile, it was her I wanted, her I loved.

It had been right in the middle of our fight, that I realized I loved her, and told her as much, but instead of it having the swooning effect I always imagined, it made her hit me. Which hurt her, rather than me, making me feel even more horrible when I saw the tears form, in her beautiful hazel eyes. She refused to let me take care of her, and made me leave instead, it tore at my heart to leave her like that, but it was her explicit demand, so I obeyed.

Here I was, alone in my big house, which felt more empty than it had before, after the words moving in had been dropped. How was she supposed to know that I would never have opened up my house for them if I wasn't 200% sure I wanted them to be here? My confrontation with Chloe this morning, might not have been pretty, but since she thought of me as a super hero, things could only get better… some super hero I am. Did you ever see superman ask victims to locate themselves more conveniently, so he would be closer in case they needed him? No? I didn't think so, that would be yours truly.

"Phil? What's up?" Solace sounded winded, and I didn't even want to know what he was doing with Amber before answering the phone.

He had gotten used to me calling off schedule to talk about Tara, he no longer freaked out thinking there was something wrong with Maddox. He had even been the one to suggest asking Anna about the car chairs, after being royally pissed I'd let Maddie ride with me without one, that had cost me an earful of crap about the risk I'd taken. It was no use telling him they were for show, since Tara didn't know about my impeccable reflexes, he insisted that I could have killed her.

"I've made a mess of things Solace," I sighed deeply.

"What did you do this time?" So far, he'd had a lot of fun at my expense, listening to every single one of my screw ups.

He had laughed his heart out, when I conveniently forgot her children's existence, even if had only been for a moment. The whole ballet thing had been even more hilarious, he'd made me tell Amber the entire thing, since it had been her suggestion in the first place, telling me to bring her by when we were in the neighborhood. I had been looking forward to introduce Tara to them, ever since the moment that Amber suggested it, but with the anticipation of disaster, I opted to save it for another occasion.

"She found out about the wolf thing today, and in regard of her safety I asked her to move in with me, or that's how she took it anyway. I hate not having you here to keep me in check, even Mark could see I was messing up big time, before I had even finished." A loud chuckle came from the other side.

"Will you never learn? You need to think before you act Phil, even without taking in consideration the fact that she just learned you're a wolf today, asking a woman to move in with you, should be an act of love, and more importantly, she should be able to tell!" He reprimanded me with amusement.

"I know, I know! It was just an impulsive thought, I couldn't help myself, I wanted her to move in so bad!" Letting out the frustration I'd been keeping inside all this time.

"Tara, yes. But what about her children, you can't just ignore them you know, especially not if they're living with you." He said seriously, unaware of the revelation I had last night.

"Don't you think I know that? I don't want her to move in alone, I want them here too, they're not nearly as bad as I had thought. Ava is really cute, and have I told you yet, that Chloe thinks I'm a super hero?" I couldn't help but feel proud about that, until I realized Solace on the other side remained silent.

"Solace? You there man?"

"Dude, you actually sound excited when you talk about them! You're getting there, even though I wasn't sure you ever really would!" Solace uttered confused.

"Yeah, a lot of good it does me, now that their mother won't speak to me," I knew I sounded desperate, but hey, that's how I felt.

"Phil, you do realize she'll forgive you, especially when you convince her of the fact that you're crazy about her and her kids," he tried to reassure me, but I was still gloomy.

"I don't know man, I even told her I loved her, but she ended up slapping me for it!" Another salvo of booming laughs reached my ears.

"She slapped you for telling her you loved her! You're even worse than I thought!" He hiccupped in between laughs.

"Thanks a lot for that Solace, I'm so glad my love life is so amusing to you! That was always my intention of course, now that I've succeeded, I can rest assured," sarcasm dripping from my words.

"Oh come on Phil, don't tell me you wouldn't react the same if you ever found out something like that happened to me!" He countered.

"It's not the same if had just been some woman, it was Tara, you have no idea how it feels to be refused by your imprint like that!"

"Ok, maybe I don't. But look at it the other way around, an imprints refusal, is never permanent."

Right now all I could do was hope that he was right, and listen to his ideas on how to make her forgive me. If there was anyone who would know, he would, so I tried to memorize it all as he laid out a battle plan for me. This time, I'd do exactly as he instructed, as he had yet to steer me wrong.


	11. The grand masterplan

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, but all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai. You can find her fabulous stories, as well as very good spin-offs written by ari11990****, dll10, Guzhong, intiMACYx33 and liljenrocks, in my favorite list, so**** go check them out!**

**AN:** Thanks so much for all the reviews you've been leaving me, your support is more than I could've asked for! And of course I'm always very grateful to yay4shanghai, for beta'ing and lending me her wonderful characters to play around with ;)

* * *

The grand master plan

~*~

POV: Phil

~*~

"Well, let's hear this master plan of yours." Solace was so sure himself when it came to ladies that he'd better have come up with something good.

"Oh no, it doesn't work like that. I don't even know her, how would I know what she'd like? No, you're gonna have to come up with the actual plan, I'm just here for guidance." I waited for a sign that he was kidding, he must be, because the Solace I knew would never leave me hanging.

"Are you serious? What good will that do me, I was the one who screwed it all up in the first place!" I screamed.

"Chill out man, I said I'd help you and I will, so just tell me more about her," he urged, and I did.

I told him everything I could think of, not just for the master plan but because I wanted to. Solace had been my best friend since the days when I still thought girls were icky, and with his current situation he hadn't had a chance to meet her.

I started with the major things, like her love for dancing and the role her daughters played in her life, then moved to all the little things that would seem insignificant to anyone else but made her this larger than life figure in my world. Her dislike of lying and anything fake, her preference to extra-chunky peanut butter and how she could stubbornly hold on to a notion no matter how ridiculous it was. I gushed about how on occasion she would let go of her poise releasing her inner child, and how amazing it was to see such a beautiful and graceful woman act like one of her daughters.

Then I got an idea, I knew just how to show her that I was serious about sharing my life with them. In that second it was entirely clear how to show her how much I cared, not just about her but also her girls.

When I ran it by Solace, he completely agreed, this was a plan that shouldn't fail. I was psyched. I had thought of a solution all on my own, one that would say exactly what I wanted it to, while at the same time getting them to move in without a second thought. I wanted to get started as soon as possible, but I'd need help and I knew just who to call, though it would have to wait till morning.

Before getting started on my project I needed to call Tara, I hadn't talked her since she made me leave yesterday, after she'd hit me. Physically it hadn't hurt me, emotionally was another story, for her to slap me, it took a lot, she wasn't one to go around putting her hands on people. I put my thoughts on pause, when I heard the phone ring. I waited for her to pick up, she did, but only to say that she'd already told me that I wasn't supposed to call her, I couldn't even get a word in before she hung up again.

The next morning I waited patiently for it to be a reasonable hour to call before I dialed Claire's number and explained the master plan.

"That's a brilliant idea Phil, she'll love it!" When I called Claire, she was instantly enthusiastic.

"So you'll help me?" Without her I wouldn't be able to pull it off.

"Of course I will, but it'll have to wait, right now I'm going over there, to see what the damage is. I'm really sorry about dropping the ball like that, when she was talking about your temperature, it was out before I realized you hadn't told her yet." She felt really guilty, though no one held blame but me.

"Don't worry about it Claire, this is all on me, I was the one who messed up. Will you tell me later how she is? I'm worried about her, I tried calling her, but she's not talking to me," I pleaded. She agreed and hopefully through Claire I would be able to get some idea on how she was for however long she kept me away.

That plan backfired on me when Claire came back a few hours later, stopping by to give me a piece of her mind. I should have expected that, of course Tara would tell Claire everything, who else was she supposed to talk to? She couldn't exactly tell her co-workers about imprinting, nobody else knew, so non of her friends could possibly understand her situation. Claire was really angry at me for actually mentioning the other women, which had been a stupid thing to do, I'd admit. According to her, I should be glad that I had thought of something so sweet, to make it up to her because I had been a major jerk.

~*~

"Let's get started shall we!" Claire took over on the creative and planning department of our project, while I did anything that required brawn as well as making sure I got everything on the list she made for me.

It was a long process, but it was so cool to see the progress, with each day that passed. There was a lot of stuff I could do, but certain things required Claire's capable hands. Seeing Claire at work was a unique process, she was really good at this, combining colors, and arranging shapes, her talent was obvious. It took weeks, since time was something Claire didn't have to spare, but the end result was worth it.

With a good feeling and no actual plan I left for Port Angeles that day. I wasn't sure what I would say but I'd wait outside Chloe's school and bring them straight back here, or at least try to.

While the project was being completed, I kept calling Tara but to no prevail, she kept telling me to leave her alone. As the end line of the project came closer, I noticed I was calling her less, respecting her wishes but also scared shitless. If she didn't like what we had done for her I'd never be able to get back into her good graces. I missed her so much, I longed to have her with me, to feel the touch of her smooth skin on mine. I tried not to remember the sight of her under me, or how much I loved it when she called out my name. At night in bed, whenever I was able to catch sleep, I'd dream about her, but then I'd wake up again, to find myself alone, and utterly disappointed.

When it was finally time to present the surprise I had for her and the girls, I was jumping out of my skin with excitement. If I got her here, I'd never let her go again, she'd be mine no matter how hard I had to beg. As I left my home I checked over the results one last time, before I made my way over to Port Angeles, to talk to Tara for the first time since our fight. I'd watched her on regular basis, mostly at night, but I always kept my distance, afraid to make matters worse.

When I parked my car, I saw her before she saw me, and when I saw little Ava standing next to her, I realized how much I had missed the little ladies. It felt good, so good when I saw Chloe come towards me, happy to see me, and a moment later both of them were in my arms. They were all giggly and excited when I told them that I had surprise for them and their mother, but that Tara needed to come with us, in order for me to show them.

Tara's eyes didn't show the anger I had expected, she seemed as happy to see me as her daughters, which gave me an extra boost to follow through on my plans. She agreed to come with me, and I drove them to my house, where I showed them what Claire and I had been working on. It was obvious they loved it by their reactions, I watched them explore, letting them have their moment, but he second the girls left us alone, I gave in to my need to have her close. As I gathered her in my arms, where she fit perfectly, nothing else mattered, the world could catch on fire for all I cared.

~*~

POV: Tara

~*~

Nights were the worst. That's when I actually had time to think about it, and I did, all night long. My mind wouldn't stop spinning, sleeping had become a luxury, one my brain apparently couldn't afford any longer. So often I thought I felt his presence and when I squeezed my eyes shut it was as if he would be there under my hand, if I just reached out for him.

Every night I'd lay there, unable to turn off the tumbling thoughts, constantly second guessing myself. After a few days, most of my anger had dissipated, but enough lingered to make me refuse to talk to him, though his absence was affecting me more and more each day. It was as if I couldn't exist without him anymore, which was a scary thought on its own. I was raised to be an independent woman and now I was putting everything on one man.

He'd call at least a few times a day, at least he had at first, the number of attempts to reach me had decreased over the weeks. Something I stupidly felt sad about. It was completely unreasonable to want him to call when I didn't intend to answer them. Well I answered them, but only to tell him not to call anymore, and if I was perfectly honest, to hear his voice even if only for a second. As of recently he had started to listen to me. Was it pride that made me feel this way? My thoughts were so annoyingly contradictory.

Though I told him not to call, and was irritated when he did, I felt neglected and refused when he didn't, and secretly expected him not to listen. I found myself glancing at the clock around the time my phone would usually ring, and felt the emptiness inside me grow when it stayed silent.

At times I would scream at myself. You stupid girl! Obviously you want conformation he still cares, if you miss him so much, why don't you just give in already, what if he actually moves on?

And that was another thing, I wasn't sure whether or not Claire told me this to scare me, or if she was really just worried I might lose him, but she told me that on rare occasion an imprint could be denied. Up until then, I felt sure I could take all the time I needed to mull things over, he'd still be there if I changed my mind. Now I wasn't so sure anymore, would he move on? Intended or not, the idea put fear in my heart.

Was it possible that I might have overreacted, that in my anger I had refused to look further than what was in front of me. It could have been very possible that Phil hadn't meant it like that, so it would have been unfair of me to shut him down like that. Even more, that I was continuing to do so right now, I should have given him the chance to talk, the moment my anger had been turned down a few notches.

Maybe it was the fact that my birthday had passed, unknowingly to most, with only a call from my parents, which made me realize how lonely I was. Chloe wasn't even six yet, she might know when my birthday was but how would she know that day had arrived. Claire didn't know, Phil didn't either, so the 17th of May 2034 passed silently, without it being mentioned by anyone that it was my 27th birthday.

It was then that I had started to doubt my reaction to Phil weeks back, maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on him, wasn't it sweet in a way that he was so set on protecting us? Since I was being so hesitant on what to do, I decided that next time he called, I'd hear him out, but that was the thing, he hadn't called once today. His last call had been yesterday, and I'm sure my decision to give him the opportunity to speak had been initiated by the fact that my phone hadn't rang at all since.

My girls had been worried about me and though I tried as best I could to appear cheery whenever they were around, they weren't blind, they could see I was sad. More than that, they missed him too, they had gotten used to having him around on a regular basis, and when he suddenly wasn't there anymore, it was weird for them. Over a dozen times, they had asked me if I would stop being mad soon, because they wanted him to come back.

I could hardly believe it, had I managed to find a good man, get him to fall for my girls as well as for me, and then chased him away? When it was time to pick up the Chloe from school I had put a halt to my internal rambling, on the last day of the week, I called Ava with me and left with thoughts still swirling through my head. As I waited outside for Chloe, I felt it, I felt him, but I wouldn't dare look for him, afraid that it was my imagination going into overdrive. When Chloe came at me running though, pointing to something behind me, I knew he really was here.

Gathering the courage to turn around, I saw Phil's car parked a little behind us, with him leaning against it, until he pushed himself off of it and came towards us. My heart wanted to jump out of my chest, my whole being was happy to see him, and all I wanted to do was run to him and throw myself in his arms. To my envy, that was exactly what my little ladies were doing. Chloe was a little hesitant, she'd never even hugged him before, but she was now. Ava held nothing in reserve, flinging herself at him at full speed, totally confident he'd catch her, which he did of course.

Smiling brightly, the three of them came at me, but his face took on a more cautious expression, when they drew near. They were talking about something enthusiastically, sneaking glances at me while they did, they were concocting something, that much was clear. I couldn't help but feel relieved, that he hadn't given up on me yet, and found myself curious about their plans. When they were mere feet removed from me, Ava came at me.

"Mom, you have to come with us! Please, please, pleeeeaaase!" She begged, while tugging at my hand forcefully, trying to pull me towards his car.

"Will you…come with us? There's something I want to show you, maybe we can talk a bit after?" Phil looked serious, a lump formed in my throat at our close proximity, so instead of trying to speak, I just nodded.

He made sure both girls were secure in their seats, which were still in his car, before getting in himself and driving off, to an unknown location. Soon it became evident he was heading towards LaPush, and eventually it turned out our destination was his house. He'd shown me around the first time I'd been here, but the only time the girls were here they were too distracted to pay much attention to it. Right now they were though, gawking at the sheer size of it, they practically ran in when he opened the door.

"If you'd follow me ladies!" He said as he gallantly held out his arms invitingly towards the stairs. What awaited us there, I could not have anticipated.

"Oh My God!" My jaw dropped.

The girls ran back and forth from one side to the next. Enthralled by Phil's surprise, I too was completely blown away by what he had done for us to say more. He had totally redecorated and refurnished two rooms for Chloe and Ava, across from each other, and not too far from the master bedroom. They were gorgeous, and it took my breath away that he had gone through such extreme measures. The fact that he had known this would mean more to me than any sort of gift, told me he knew me a lot better than I had realized initially.

Chloe's room was a soft pinkish lilac, with circular shapes, varying in color and size, on the front and back wall, as well as the ceiling. On one of the walls there was a black flower like drawing and a big orange lamp, made up out of three cylinders cut askew, hung from the ceiling. The curtains and the bedcover shared the same pattern on a soft purple surface. On the outside of her door, black and white ballet shoes were painted, instead of a name tag.

Ava's room was completely different, as bright and colorful as she was. Her walls were painted sunshine yellow, while the furniture was bold and colored in blues, greens, oranges, and pinks, and covered in cheerful prints. On her door there was a drawing of four butterflies. Just like for Chloe's room, there was no actual nametag, but an image that represented the girl who was designated to sleep in the room, this one was just as fitting as the ballet shoes were for Chloe.

While we were in awe over the girls rooms, he looked on, as we took in the surroundings. My eyes met his the moment the girls ran to the other room again, and I gushed. I was so touched he'd done this, it was clear how much we meant to him, how much I meant to him. He beckoned me over to him with one crooked finger pulling me into his arms, the moment I was in reach. I melted against his chest, my face disappearing in the crook of his neck, never wanting to resurface.

"Thought you'd like it," he whispered into my hair, as he held me close against him, and I knew I was home.

* * *

**AN:** Pictures of Chloe and Ava's rooms can be found on my photobucket account, photobucket(dot)com/asagarimelody, in the yay4shanghai universe - Just My Luck album.


	12. Coming home

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai. You can find her fabulous stories, as well as the very good spin-offs written by ari11990****, dll10, Guzhong, intiMACYx33, liljenrocks and TwilightHeart21, in my favorite list, so**** go check them out!**

**AN:** A huge extra super thanks to my beta yay4shanghai, for basically writing the entire chapter! She came to my rescue, I'm so grateful to her for doing so :)

Also, I wanna thank everyone who reviewed, and apologize for not answering all of them. I've read them all, and the really do mean so much to me!

* * *

Coming home

~*~

POV: Phil

~*~

Finally being able to hold her again, was like taking in a fresh breath, breaking the surface after being under too long. The relief was inconceivable, I'd put everything on creating a home for the girls, it was my last hope. She could tear down my entire house, and make me build a new one just the way she liked it as long as she stayed with me, nothing else mattered.

Our embrace was like a promise without words, a silent declaration of love, she was mine, and forever would be. Today our family was born, and I'd do everything I could to make them happy, this was just the beginning. If Tara would let me, I'd be as good a father to Chloe and Ava as one ever existed, this would be their home from now on.

It was something else entirely, to have my house filled with sounds of squealing girls (say what you want, they do actually squeal and scream like banshees) but for the first time, it didn't bother me, it felt right, knowing it was our girls who brought forward the high pitched sound that could only be described as noise. They stayed, not even going home that night, everything practical was put on hold for now, we'd deal with it tomorrow or whenever we needed to. Right now we remained in our little world, in which I had made dinner for them, where we watched a movie huddled on the couch together and snuggled close. One where I was able to carry the girls up to their rooms, after falling asleep as a result of staying up too late. But the best part, without a doubt, was when Tara and I retreated into our bedroom, knowing it was no longer my room.

Pulling her against me, she sighed and I wrapped my arms around her; reveling in this perfect moment. They knew everything, about who I was, why we existed, and it was ok. They had accepted me into their lives despite it.

"I love you. I'm so happy that the three of you stayed," I whispered in her ear. She turned around, and placed her hands on either side of my face, pulling me down, our foreheads were touching.

"I love you too Phil, more than you know." She said passionately before pressing her lips to mine, I had never heard such beautiful words in my entire life, it was just the way I wanted to start our lives together. My hands which had missed her just as much as the rest of me, roamed her body freely, cupping the soft curve of her breast and molding to her femininely indented waist.

She released a moan, which morphed into a squealed as I picked her up by the back of her knees rushing her to the bed where I placed her gently. Her hair fanned out around her, creating a halo around her beautiful face. I hadn't known, I couldn't have known that this, this entire thing—not just the beautiful and amazing woman before me— but the challenging and loveable girls, was exactly what I needed. She slowly snuck her hand under the brim of my shirt her fingertips trailing from my navel to the bottom of my pecks urging it up.

When I pulled it off her eyes devoured me, taking in every part of my body as if she had never seen it before. Her reaction did things to me, a shiver of lust running down my back as my stomach flipped repeatedly.

"You're so gorgeous," she whimpered pulling me down on top of her.

"I missed you so much," I breathed against her neck, she shivered rushing to undress me completely, but there was no rush, this was our life from now on. I stood back, pulling down my pants before I settled back between her legs, the soft cotton of her underwear under her dress rubbing against my naked stiffness. I kissed her slowly, relishing in the taste of her tongue on mine and she rocked against me slowly.

"I missed you too… I won't—I don't want to be away from you again," she whined as I slipped my hand under her underwear tracing my finger along her slick warmth, stopping at the soft nub that made her whole body convulse. "Take them off." Her voice was pleading and I rolled onto my side, using my free hand to unburden her from the confines of her bikini cut black underwear.

"You don't have to be away from me again… it's us now, you, me and the girls," I whispered in her ear, tracing my finger slowly up and down her slit which was lubricated with her citrusy musk. She sat up, wriggling and ripping the dress off quickly. Her body which was long and slim was a glorious shade of caramel like the hard candies my grandmother Lynch used to pass us behind our mother's back before she died.

I took her light coffee colored nipples already awake with desire into my mouth, letting it scrape my teeth as I sucked it hungrily, she thrashed against my hand and I increased the speed of my ministrations until there was a steady flow of her glorious sounds filling the room.

When she had released once against my hand and a two more times with the insistent attention from my tongue she pulled me up by the ears.

"Please—Phil—now!" She panted against my mouth, running her tongue along the crease of my lips.

When I entered her we cried out together, the perfection of our union too much to keep inside. Our bodies moved in a natural rhythm, until we reached a climax together settling down for the night, wrapped in each her's arms.

Moving day started the next morning after a bountiful breakfast cooked by me and Tara, still so sickeningly in love the girls couldn't even watch us. The girls needed a few hours to pack so when we got to Port Angeles with two borrowed trucks and three borrowed wolves we were all in full force. The girls loved Seth almost instantly making him much more like a babysitter than a moving man, but me and Mark carried the brunt of the load without complaint. Very little furniture was brought along for the ride, though my kitchen lacked a lot of what Tara called "The Essentials" and everything from hers needed to be brought along.

We were done by Saturday night, each personal effect in place all of my girls content as they should be. We got into a groove that week so easily, breakfast as a family, driving Chloe back to school in Port Angeles, she'd transfer to the school here on the rez, as soon Ava would be old enough to enroll as well. The afternoons after picking her up, consisted of homework time and bath time, before w had alone time for me and Tara. It was like living in a Leave it to Beaver bubble of family perfection, even Chloe played along leaning her little head against my shoulder when we watched movies or letting me hug her tight each day before she left for school, while Ava my angel was happier than I ever seen her before.

~*~

POV: Tara

~*~

I woke up Sunday naked and toasty warm in Phil's strong arms, I rolled over kissing between his rock hard pecks.

"I love you," I whispered turning to make it to the bathroom and get ready for the afternoon.

"Where you going baby?" He asked kissing along my neck.

"Bathroom and brunch." I sighed kissing him morning breath and all before pulling on his shirt and running to his en suite bathroom. I slipped into the shower and before I could wash out the deep conditioner he pushed back the glass door and came in behind me.

Shower sex was new to me, especially with a man who could bench-press me. He held me up against the cold tiles his sizzling hot body creating steam in the small stall.

His throbbing hot erection pumped inside of me at an inhuman pace hitting my g-spot with such precision I wasn't sure when one orgasm stopped and a new one began. I cried out when I felt as if I had reached a completely different level of existence. When his powerful release burst through me my toes curls and he placed me back down allowing the hot water to cleanse me.

"Do you have to go?" He whispered in my ear, rubbing a soapy sponge down my body.

"Yeah I agreed to it yesterday," I groaned when he nibbled along my neck tweaking my nipples expertly.

"You'll come back as soon as possible, right?"

"Are you afraid of a whole day with the girls alone?" He chuckled, turning off the water and kissing me before sliding open the door and releasing the steam.

"Me and the girls are going to have a blast today, I've already made a full schedule. Greasy spoon diner for breakfast, cartoon marathon, sand-castling at First Beach," he listed off with a shining grin my eyes teared so rapidly I had to hide them from him. I don't know what I did to deserve him but I was more grateful than I could even explain.

"You're perfect," I sang wringing out my hair with a fluffy yellow towel.

"Ditto," he said kissing me on the cheek and rushing back in the room, pulling on some clothes before Ava burst in.

"I had bad dreams last night," she said rubbing her eyes with her adorable little hands. Ava frequently had bad dreams, I hated it, they were one of the only things that could make my burst of sunshine unhappy. My routine for nights when she woke up with bad dreams was usually to pull her in bed with me and tell her stories about my family until she fell asleep, she never waited till morning to tell me, too afraid to sleep alone.

"Why didn't you come find me Ava-bean?"I asked stepping back in the bathroom to pull on a nightgown.

She screamed so I could hear her. "I didn't want to bother Phil." We had never lived with a man before, I never closed my door when it was just us, and my heart just broke thinking about my Ava suffering nightmares alone. I rushed back out to hug her but I was too late, Phil had her up in his arms holding her with his cheek pressed to her.

"What did you dream about?" Phil asked quietly, rubbing her back in small circles.

"Vampires," she said with a scowl.

"Aww, well sweetheart you know you don't have to worry about those in La Push, you've got a whole pack of wolves to protect you, you're part of our family now," he said kindly. "But if you ever have a nightmare you can to our room, you never bother me."

"Really?" She asked sweetly, holding his chin with her little hand so he was looking right in her eyes.

"Of course, I love you sweetie." And this time there was no time to hide my tears they flowed out before I could register them.

"I love you too Phil." When Phil looked back at me he cocked his head to the side confused at my reaction, and I wiped the tears away smiling at him as Ava showered the side of his face with kisses. I joined her, kissing from his jaw to his hairline as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Not sure what I did to deserve all of this but I kinda like it." He chuckled in the most delightful way and I followed them out the room, so blissful I felt like I was floating. Chloe woke up just as Phil helped Ava pick out an outfit and I gave them all huge kisses as a send off, smiling still as I dressed for my afternoon with the girls.

~*~

"Ooh, I'm so excited! You're first wolf-girl brunch," Claire squealed grabbing onto my arm and almost skipping up the well worn path to a cheerful looking yellow house. There was a large row of colorful flowers lining either side of the small porch which looked freshly painted, a bright white to match the old shutters.

"What exactly so you do at these things?" I asked, I had let her drag me here without asking many questions because now that I was here, set to live in La Push I was excited to make friends and learn more about… well everything, the culture, the people, the sights and especially the schools. Taking my girls all the way to Port Angeles Elementary was too much of a hassle and though I knew Chloe would be less than pleased about the transfer she was still young enough that it wouldn't really hurt her learning process.

"We eat and talk, you'll see," she said leading me inside, the small living room was packed women and a small circle young girls, all native but one well put-together blonde. "Tara you should meet my aunt Emily first, she's my cousin Mark's mother." Claire led me to the kitchen passed the crowd of women who all inspected me thoughtfully. Emily was bustling through the kitchen, plating a huge bowl of delicious smelling pasta. When she turned to me I flinched, then felt instantly bad about it, smiling shyly as she put her hand out for a shake. Her face was mangled, one whole side red and slashed as if it had been torn apart by wild animals.

"Phil's imprint, nice to meet you," she said warmly and I nodded as the girls started to circle.

"I'm Kim," a short and friendly looking woman in a green dress was the first to talk to me, I liked her immediately. Her daughter an extremely beautiful girl in her early teens was one of the three younger girls who stood in a circle oblivious to my arrival, though Kim called them over. "This is my lovely pain in the ass Annabelle," Kim said jokingly. "This beauty is my son Taylor's imprint Melody, and over here," she paused pulling the shortest girl forward. "Is Emily's youngest Jesse, she's Seth's imprint." And that time I did flinch, I wasn't going to get used to this little girl imprinting thing. Jesse who looked very much like her mother (though without the scar) couldn't have been older than ten.

"So I guess everyone's got an imprint then?" I asked looking around.

"Everyone here does," she said with a shrug.

"Not me," a spunky looking lady who looked about my age ran forward. "I'm Anna, Melody's mom," she introduced herself, she looked about a decade too young to have a daughter that old but I didn't question it and she answered my silent question immediately. "I'm a wolf."

"Oh," I said dumbly and Kim grabbed me pulling my towards the rest of the ladies.

"This is Rachel," Kim said beaming and Rachel who was deeply tanned and leggy did a little bow. "over here is Helen, Leticia," Kim explained as I shook hands with hands with the blonde Helen, before being pulled in for a hug by the most beautiful woman I had ever met in real life.

"Isn't Phil lucky," the bronze goddess named Leticia exclaimed.

"Thank you… there are so many I thought it was sort of rare the way Phil explained it…"

"Ay mija and there are a few more but they couldn't make it," Leticia said with her adorable Spanish accent.

"There are more?" I exclaimed as Kim pointed me to a chair.

"Yeah, about 90% of the pack is imprinted now right?" Claire asked the group and they all nodded thoughtfully.

"Let's see. Soli's not here… she's Leticia's… colorful daughter, who was imprinted on by Helen's son Randy. Then there's Rachel's daughter Trisha who was imprinted on my Mark's twin brother David, and her daughter Sarah who has Krys. Nessie and imprint Rachel's brother Jake live in Italy, with their daughter Elena, who is my other son Ethan's imprint and then Maddox."

"I think I'm a little overwhelmed… this family tree is really… complex," I sighed and the women around me all nodded.

"You'll get the hang of it you don't have to know everyone and their mate right away," Claire smiled warmly. Then something they said stuck out and kicked me in the ass.

"Maddox? My little Maddie the ballet dancer, has an imprint?" Everyone around me looked nervous.

"Yeah… Phil's best friend."

"Solace? He's… married," I said slowly.

"Yes he is… to my daughter _other_ daughter Amber," Kim said almost defensively as Rachel and Emily started whispering excitedly.

"Oh."

"I told you an imprint could be denied… or at least Solace did," Claire said with a bit of bite, Kim's smile disappeared.

"Or he thinks he did," Emily said venomously from the couch.

"I thought we weren't going to talk about this again?" Helen said from Leticia's side. The two seemed close, Leticia casually leaning against her as she played with her long auburn hair.

"I know, I don't want to fight again it's giving me a headache," Leticia agreed. I was so confused and again Kim came to the rescue explaining the situation quickly.

"My daughter was dating Solace and they were engaged when he imprinted on Maddox, they got married and moved away." I nodded not really sure why that had caused such a commotion, the room was obviously divided.

"Okay, so what is there to argue about? Amber and Solace were in love and they got married… why is that a problem?" I asked, though I instantly regret it when both Rachel and Emily turned away from me.

"It's frowned upon to steal someone else's soul mate in our community," Emily said coldly and I frowned looking up at the time. I had been here less than an hour and I had already insulted the host. I didn't speak again until brunch was officially served and even then I stayed away from Emily and the side of the room I'd obviously offended.

"Everyone here's got a stick up their ass about imprinting. It's nice to have some new blood," Helen whispered to me as I stood in the corner near Annabelle eating. Annabelle who could hear us both grinned widely.

"I don't really get it though. Maddox is a just a baby, what is he supposed to do, ruin his life waiting for her to grow up? What if she's a lesbian," I whispered directly in her ear, she chuckled.

"Vell an imprint is supposed to be a perfect match, so I dun think she can be a lesbian," Leticia whispered to us, I blushed, not sure exactly how she heard me.

"If he's supposed to be imprint on his perfect match why did he imprint on a little girl… don't either of you find that disturbing?" They shrugged indifferently and I felt even more isolated. There was so much I still didn't understand.

"So how's Phil treating ya?" Kim asked joining our circle.

"Great, he's amazing! Perfect, well… a little over-protective," I said shyly.

"OH they all are," Helen moaned.

"All the wolves?"

"All the imprints, they act like we're going to be hit by a bus any minute!" Annie piped in, she was adorable, he voice a bit high pitched like a tiny bell.

"Are they like that forever?" I asked nervously, I was a pretty independent woman and I could see that getting on my nerves over time.

"Yes! You get this man of your dreams type deal but you have to deal with him always treating you like a baby," Annabelle pouted.

"You still are a baby," Kim giggled. "But she's sort of right, they are a bit overbearing at times… just wait till you get pregnant."

"Oh, I don't—well me and Phil haven't exactly talked about kids yet," I said politely. I would like to expand our family, but Phil and I had been in such honeymoon mode I hadn't brought it up, secretly afraid that while he tolerated the children I already had—love them even—he was far from interested in having more.

"Talk about… shit the only one of my three that was planned was Annie here… birth control not full proof I have three other children to attest to that," Kim scoffed and when Annie looked at her with wide eyes she added, "and I love them all!"

When way more than half the food that Emily and the girls cooked was still left behind I moved to help them clear it away but there was no need. Huge men, some that I had met, others that I had seen in pictures and a few that were entirely new to me filed in around lunch devouring the remains and picking up their girls.

Phil and my girls were the last to arrive Ava a little red in the face from her afternoon under the bright sun at the beach; all were smiling. He bypassed the food which the girls ran to immediately picking me up and kissing me in a way that might not have been appropriate for the crowd. Seth who had not stopped hugging Jesse since he arrive whooped and his imprint so obviously smitten with him chuckled, kissing his cheek happily.

"I missed you," he gushed and I nodded in agreement. I might not really understand imprint and it's politics completely but I knew without a doubt I could not life without Phil ever again.


	13. Only my Phil

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai. You can find her fabulous stories, as well as all the amazing spin-offs written by ari11990, dll10, Guzhong, intiMACYx33, liljenrocks and TwilightHeart21, in my favorite list, so go check them out!**

**AN: **Thank you all for he super sweet reviews, I'm so grateful for every single one of them, it means the world to me that despite my lack of updates, you haven't given up on me! I'm doing my very best to get the rest of the chapters to you with shorter intervals!

Also, I wanna thank my beta yay4shanghai for the patience she's had with me, and being a super amazing beta!

* * *

Only my Phil

~*~

POV: Phil

~*~

Where the hell was she?! The moment she'd left LaPush I'd felt her go. It didn't fit, she was supposed to be at the Imprint lunch. Well, I guess they would be done by now, but either way, she wasn't supposed to go off the rez. Not that I would ever keep her from doing what she wanted, if she needed an afternoon to herself, I'd be the one to encourage her to actually take the time to do so, but this just wasn't like her, dropping out without a word, she didn't even have her car.

I glanced out of the window, to see her Nissan parked in front of the garage. Soon after she moved in, I'd gotten her a car, so it was easier for her to get to Port Angeles and back. Even now that the girls went to school here in LaPush, she was still teaching at the small dance studio there.

Another look at the clock told me the girls lunch would definitely be over by now, yet I felt her move further away from me, with every passing minute. I flipped open my phone and called her, but there was no answer. What the fuck is going on here, this didn't make any sense at all. Where would she go? And more importantly, why? Just when I was about to freak out, Claire appeared in front of the house.

"What happened?!" The look on Claire's face when I yanked open the front door, before she could even knock, spoke loud and clear.

"We had a little drama today. Randy was upset with Soli, and in the heat of the discussion, it was mentioned that you and Soli…" She trailed off.

"Shit!" I'd tried my best to act natural whenever Soli was around, Tara and her had become such close friends over the last year, I didn't want to ruin it for them.

"Can you look after the girls for me?" I asked Claire while I was already half running out the door, she nodded in agreement, stepping into the house.

Grabbing the handle of my Cadillac, ready to jump in, I changed my mind. Chances were she'd borrowed a car from one of the girls, besides, I couldn't track her properly while driving. So instead I ran for the nearest tree line and started ripping off my clothes, tying my pants to my leg, before phasing. Following the pull to her, I ended up in Port Angeles, and when I closed in on the dance studio, I caught her smell leading me to her.

It was quiet, aside from the loud music coming from the room where her classes were normally held. No one was here, there were no classes right now. The moment I saw her I stopped dead in my tracks, and my jaw dropped open. I've seen her dance before, a million times I've watched her teach, but never have I seen her dance like this.

Her eyes were closed and she seemed to know where she was going instinctively, because she moved without hesitation. Sweat pearled on her forehead as her body pulsated with the rhythm of the music, never missing a beat. It wasn't dancing like I'd seen in the ballets we went to, it was rougher, not the long gracious moves, but short and strong ones. It was beautiful to watch her like this, she was completely lost in her own world, obviously unaware of anything but the music she was dancing to.

Though I knew this came forth out of frustration, or maybe even anger, I couldn't bring myself to let her know I was here. It reminded me of when I had just met her, the first time I'd watched her teach Maddie after I'd imprinted on her. I had been in awe then as well, and right now, I was falling in love with her all over again. She had to be the most magnificent woman on the face of the earth, and I still couldn't believe fate had paired her up with _me_.

For at least another twenty minutes I stood transfixed, as she passionately moved throughout the space. Enjoying watching her in her element, I could see how she'd been a star on the stage of a dance company once. It was raw talent that made it impossible not to keep looking at her when she danced, my eyes locked on to her extraordinary physique. Until she eventually slowed down, her chest heaving from being out of breath, and I wondered how often she did this. For her to be able to keep this up for more than thirty minutes, had to be exhausting.

Finally she turned off the music, grabbing the bottle of water next to the control panel of the sound system. She drank eagerly, parched from working her body so hard, before she wiped her face with a towel. Her hair in a messy bun, her dark skin flush from the warm blood flowing beneath it, she never looked more precious to me.

And the moment she opened her eyes to meet mine, I blurted it out "marry me!"

"What?" Her breath still ragged, her eyes wide in shock, she looked at me.

Oh god, did I just propose to her? That's just perfect, Phil! She was probably still mad at me for sleeping with one of her best friends, even though it was long before I even met her, and it's now of course, that I decide to pop the question. I'd been thinking about a some sort of super romantic way to ask her for a while. Weeks ago I'd even managed to find the perfect ring, but I was positive this wasn't the right way to ask someone to be your wife at all.

To my surprise she started laughing, "only you could ask me to marry you like that."

Until now I'd been convinced that hearing about Soli and me had gotten her so upset, that she drove here instead of coming home, but seeing the amusement in her eyes, instead of anger or hurt, had me doubting myself. Had I been wrong to assume it would affect her that much? But if that were the case, why hadn't she just let me know, or at least answered my call?

"Did you ask me that because you thought I was upset, or do you actually want to marry me?" She asked cheerfully, confusing me even further.

"I love you more than life itself, of course I want to marry you!" Damn, I didn't even have the ring with me! I couldn't have screwed this up any worse.

"Well, that's a good thing then, I wouldn't want you to marry me out of dutifulness," she stood in front of me, still smiling.

"Now why would I…" I started disagreeing with her, before it sunk in what she'd said. "Wait, was that a yes?"

"Well, ask me properly, and it might be," her hands on her hips, she gave me an half amused, half expecting look.

Not thinking any further about it, I dropped to one knee in front of her, looking up to stare into the face of my beautiful angel. This was not at all how I had pictured this, but I didn't care anymore, she was actually going to marry me. I cleared my throat, hoping the right words would come to me. But before I even got out a single word, she let herself fall into my arms and kissed me happily.

"Yes. Yes. Yes. I'll. Marry. You!" Her words passed through her lips, in between sweet kisses. "I love you so much," she whispered.

We were on the floor, inside the dance studio, kissing each other in euphoric frenzy, the whole reason I went after her forgotten, as we devoured each other. We were alone, no one would be here for hours, so I couldn't refrain from undressing her. Pulling the damp clothes of her body, her muscles taut underneath my fingers. Wearing nothing but my sweats, it didn't take me long to get undressed too.

On my knees on the cold floor, I lowered her onto my lap, pressing more of her naked skin against me, as we sat on the empty floor. Despite the fact that we were in an enormous dance room, which thankfully wasn't located on the ground floor, it was very intimate. I was completely lost in her essence, with her arms around my neck she held me close, while I nipped on her collarbone and kissed her neck fervently.

Guiding her hips with my hands, she took me in completely, pressing her down harder when she came on top of me, not halting her movements until she felt me come with her. Her head fell down on my shoulder, while I kept her locked in place. Enjoying the closeness, our body's covered in sweat, pressed together like this, I didn't want to let her go just yet. We stayed like that, until I felt her shiver, and I knew she'd catch a cold otherwise.

~*~

POV: Tara

~*~

"Have you slept with Phil?" The words rang in my head.

"Yeah, but that was a long—" She started, before Melody interrupted her.

They continued arguing, but I zoned out, not listening to another word they were saying. He had slept with Soli?! She was… That was… My brain faltered. I didn't want to believe it, but at the same time, I knew it was true. Throughout the rest of the time with the girls, I fought to keep my emotions in check.

It was surreal. I mean, it was understandable the guy had a life before me, which would naturally include women. Any man would, but especially one his age and with his amazing looks. Though to have one of my close friends be part of his pile of women, was another matter altogether. My mind wandered back to occasions when I'd talked to her about personal stuff, including things about Phil, now all that flashed through my mind was that she'd already known.

Humiliating, that's what it was. All this time, it had been more than a year ago that Soli and I started getting closer, they'd both kept it to themselves that they had a past. Neither of them ever considering the fact that I might like to know something that significant. Suddenly it made sense that Phil was always keeping his distance when it came to Soli, to think that I always assumed he just didn't like her that much, hah!

The moment I got the chance I asked for Claire's car keys and left, I needed time to think about this on my own. Without any specific destination, I got in her car and drove off. On autopilot I drove to the dance studio, which was a good idea, blowing off some steam would do me good. I always kept some stuff in the cabinet of the room that I used for my lessons, so I changed and grabbed a CD, the CD.

Whenever I got the chance I worked on pieces for myself, quite a lot of them had been finished for a long time, and I dreamed about dancing them on stage. Though that would never happen again, I liked to practice them as often as I could. By now, I knew them inside and out, I could do them without thinking. Which was good, because I was occupied by other things, and didn't want to think at all.

As soon as the music started I felt my mind drift off, my feet beginning the first routine, the rest of me following quickly. Dancing always made me feel better, no matter what the situation was, even if I was tired moving my body to the music gave me energy. Instinctively I worked my way through the routine, putting all my strength and power into the dance. I felt the frustration flow out of me with every beat, with every flex of my muscles I felt better.

The moment Phil arrived I felt his presence, but I was so lost inside my own little world, that I could stop until the music switched off. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him looking at me, he was obviously worried, Claire would've told him by now what happened. Still panting I wiped my sweat covered face and drank down as much water as I could without suffocating.

I don't think he even realized how incredibly sweet he could be, and it was clear how devoted he was to me. With that I came to the conclusion that I was upset over nothing, it didn't matter who had come before me. He was all mine now, and that was what mattered. Turning around to acknowledge his presence, my eyes raked over him, as he stood in front of me, wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants. His prominent and defined chest, gloriously bare. He was so cute, all nervous and fidgety, how could I be mad at him for something that had happened years ago.

"Marry me!" His voice suddenly sounded through the room.

"What?" With my heartbeat still drumming in ears, for a second I almost thought I hadn't heard him right, but the expression on his face told me I had. A loud laugh escaped me, "only you could ask me to marry you like that." Who practically yells out a proposal? Only my Phil of course.

When we got home, after putting the floor of my classroom to use in a completely new way, he ordered me to stay I the living room and ran up the stairs. My confusion didn't last long, because he was back a moment later, a black velvety box proudly placed in his open hand. He actually had a ring?! Amazement washed over me, the way he asked me might have been rash, but he had really put some thought to it.

A little smug about the fact that he'd managed to catch me by surprise, he opened the box, revealing a beautiful three stone diamond ring. It was simple yet elegant, it was perfect, it was clear he knew exactly what I liked. He took the ring out of the box, slipping it onto my finger, the color contrasting with my skin, I let out a small squeal. At that moment the girls came running into the hallway, only then realizing we'd come home.

"You're getting married?!" Chloe yelled ecstatic. At seven years old, and surrounded by romantic movies, she knew exactly what the ring symbolized.

"So, he finally did something right, didn't he?" Claire said happily.

"He sure did," I was smiling so hard it hurt, but I couldn't stop, no matter how hard I tried.

"Congratulations, it's about time." She hugged us tight, clearly relieved that today's event had turned out to have a good outcome, instead of a catastrophic one.

The girls could talk about nothing else for the rest of the evening, and even if they had, my mind would've wondered back to it anyway. It was one of those nights where I couldn't wait for the girls to get to bed, desperate to be alone with my brand new fiancé, the word alone gave me goose bumps. When I came out of the bathroom, he was already in bed, hands behind his head he watched me come closer to him.

"I want the girls to be mine too," he said suddenly, while I climbed into bed with him.

"You know they already are, us getting married or not," I told him, though I was sure he already knew this.

He was like father to them, a far better one than Nicholas ever had been, he treated them as if they were his daughters, he didn't need to put a ring on my finger to be their dad. Ever since we moved in, he had been as devoted to Chloe and Ava, as he had been to me. In the beginning I might have had some concerns about how it would work out, but it had soon become clear that he was magnificent with them.

He shook his head, "that's not what I mean. I want them to be officially mine when we get married I want to adopt them."

Looking up at him, I felt a single tear roll down my face. What did I ever do to deserve a man like this?

"Are you sure?" I still couldn't believe that the man who once didn't want to have kids at all, now wanted to adopt my girls.

"Yes, we are a family, and I should be as much their father, as I would be to our other children," he said solemnly.

"You- You want to have more children?" I asked stupefied.

"Well yeah, you changed my life, I truly enjoy being a dad, and the thought of making babies with you sounds very appealing," he said with a cheeky grin.

It was the first time he mentioned having more kids, and though it had lingered in my mind on more than one occasion, I'd never asked him how he felt about it. Like I said, for a man who preferred his life childless, I assumed two daughters would be more than enough. Now he was actually telling me he wanted to have a baby with me, something I had dreamed about so often.


	14. Life isn't fair

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai. You can find her fabulous stories, as well as all the amazing spin-offs written by ari11990, dll10, Guzhong, intiMACYx33, liljenrocks and TwilightHeart21, in my favorite list, so go check them out!**

**AN:** As one review pointed out, it's been more than a month since the last update. I'm so sorry for taking so ridiculously long, no matter how much I tried, I wasn't able to finish it sooner. That said, I wanna thank everybody for their reviews! Normally I like to answer them, but the last few chapters I was always in such a need for time, that I haven't been able to do so. Many of you have predicted what this chapter was about, knowing the universe so very well, so here you go.

Last but certainly not least, I wanna thank yay4shanghai. Not only for beta'ing, but also for creating this universe to begin with, and being such an inspiration with all the many wonderful stories she's written and still writing!

* * *

Life isn't fair

~*~

POV: Phil

~*~

Oh man, how was I going to tell Tara this? Just when she, I mean we, were in the middle of planning our wedding. Well, at least that was the excuse I was using to not think about what really was the problem. For such a long time, we hardly had any problems with vampires. No more than the occasional one or pair, passing through the area. They tended to steer clear of our reservation and its surroundings. Not this time though.

No, this time they posed a very real threat, an entire coven, who had purposely come for us, not coincidentally traveling through town. They were killing people, and we would take action to stop them.

One of the advantages of being a wolf, which weren't that many if you asked me, was that not much could scare me. Knowing you were strong enough to take out just about anything that could possibly be dangerous, tended to do have that effect. So being faced with something that actually would be considered as a threat, to beings like us, was very scary indeed. Which was exactly what the problem was, fear.

I was unfamiliar with it, and its effects on me. Sure I had experienced what it felt like to be afraid of losing Tara, due to numerous different situations, one or two created by my own hands, but this was different, actual physical fear, and now I had to tell Tara about it.

In my mind I'd practiced how to say it over and over again, but it still didn't sound right, not even close. How were you supposed to tell the one person you loved most, that a bunch of vampires were coming to kill us?

Pacing back and forth I tried to figure out a way of breaking the news to her, making it sound less horrible than it was, but so that she still understood the severity of the situation. How to make sure she wouldn't freak out and faint, or have her thinking it wasn't a big deal.

"Phil?" Tara was standing a few feet from me, a frown scrunching up her eyebrows.

It was a weird sight, her standing between the trees, wearing spiky high heels, the edge of her impeccable dress peeking out from under her apron. I didn't think she'd see me, but then again, I was doing my stress pacing out in the woods just behind our backyard.

"Ah, Tara, hi. Uhm, I was just, uhm, well…" She kept looking at me, her concern growing.

"Out with it Phil!" She said firmly. "You're scaring me," she added gentler while coming towards me.

A deep sigh escaped my lips, she was right of course, she needed to know what was going on. I stepped closer to her, taking her hand, pulling her to me. I needed her to feel safe when I told her, the simplest way to do that was to hold her. True to the rule her heartbeat slowed, and her breath steadied.

"What's going on Phil?" She whispered against my shoulder.

She took the news far better than I had expected, no fainting or freaking out of any kind. If nothing else she was even rational about it, her first thought being of our girls. Even in my head, the our part made me happy. Along with planning the wedding, we were arranging the adoption to take place at the same time. The unifying of Tara and me, would be the symbolic birth of our family. But now, our marriage would be pushed onto the backseat, giving way to the pressing matter of the coven currently planning to wipe us from the face of the earth.

Though I could tell Tara was having a hard time with me training several nights a week, she never said anything. She understood it was necessary, since most of us hadn't seen much battle over the years, we needed to be prepared. It wasn't so much the hours I spent away from them, as much as the reason for my absence that bothered her. So many nights I came home with fresh cuts and bite marks, not yet healed properly. I hated her to see them, to see me like this. Like the warrior I was designed to be.

She held strong, insisting on unnecessarily tending to my fast healing wounds, cleaning them gently as they closed before her eyes. We had to go full out during battle training, the vamps wouldn't be holding back either, so we couldn't afford to do so either. But I could tell it scared her, how could it not? Chloe and Ava were only told a simplified version of what was going on, not wanting to scare them too much, but reluctant to leave them in the dark completely.

"How long?" Tara sat behind me, carefully dabbing a lukewarm washcloth on a big gash that hadn't closed yet.

Her question was unspecified, too general for anyone to understand what she was talking about. But I understood. She wanted to know how long this would last, how long it would be before the actual confrontation took place, how long it would be before all of this could be put behind us. As much as I wanted to tell her what she wanted to hear, I couldn't. I had no idea how to answer her, no matter how badly I wanted, I couldn't tell her it would be soon, it wouldn't be a big deal, and it would be over before she knew it. Cause I'd be lying, apart from the timing, I knew that this was serious, and I could only hope that eventually we would be able to put it in the past.

Instead I took her hand and pulled her in front of me, onto my lap, where she hid her face in the crook of my neck. We'd had moments like these, desperation radiating from us, both of us longing for a way to shove this enormous weight off our shoulders. Her strength was slowly beginning to falter, no matter how hard she tried to force them back, tears broke through her façade more often these days. As they did now.

There was nothing I could do to stop her from feeling like this, I could hold her, soothe her, but it wouldn't take away the actual cause of the fear and helplessness she experienced. Stroking her beautiful black hair, I lightly rocked back and forth, telling her that however long it would take, it wouldn't keep me away from her. And I would do anything within my power to live up to that promise.

Her big tear filled eyes met mine as she looked up at me pleading, "you have to come back to me Phil, promise you will." Her voice broke.

She grabbed my shoulder, wanting to force it out of me. Unable to promise her that, I kissed her gently, tasting the salt from her tears on her lips. Her arms snaked around my neck, the now cold washcloth dropped to the floor, completely forgotten. I lifted her up into my arms, one arm behind her back, and the other under her knees, to carry her to our bedroom. When I wanted to put her down, she refused to let me go, even for a single second. She clung to me, as if I was about to disappear into thin air.

Tonight there was no frenzy, everything was slow, sweet and gentle. More often than not, we let our passion drive us, but now it was about comforting each other and the need to be together above anything else. I took my time caressing her smooth skin, my hands woven in her soft thick dark hair as I claimed her mouth. I could keep kissing forever, never ending the delicious tasting bliss that were her lips. She fit so perfectly against me, the term "we were made for each other" made sense more than ever.

The next morning I awoke before her, enjoying the sight of her dipped in the serenity of a deep slumber. She was lying across me, her head on my chest, rising and falling with me, as I listened to her steady calm heartbeat. I branded the image of her in my mind, her hair tousled, her face completely relaxed, totally at peace.

This was the image that stayed in my mind as we went to retrieve Annie, reminding me of what I had waiting at home, along with a million other images that I had mentally stored into my brain over the past couple of months. Solace would be guarding my family, I made him swear to keep them safe, at least five times before I kissed Tara goodbye. Tears streaming over her cheeks, as she held her girls close to her, watching me disappear into the distance.

~*~

POV: Tara

~*~

Up until the moment I felt him, I was lost in thoughts, completely focused on the new recipe I was trying out. Suddenly there was this nagging feeling, out of nowhere it seemed to appear, without any cause. When I looked up, I saw him, and I instantly knew something was very wrong. He was pacing back and forth, his frame every now and then hidden by the big old trees around him, so far away he didn't even noticed me coming.

When he saw me standing there, his eyes went from stressed, to sad. The intensity of it shook me to my core, this was even more serious than I had expected. His eyes ran over me, and the spatula that was still in my hand, I'd walked out the back door without a second thought, the idea of maybe putting my things away didn't even occur to me. As he told me what was happening, I stilled, it felt as if a cold hand snuck around my heart, chilling it frozen to the very center.

His being a part of the pack had its consequences, I'd known that for a while now. But the idea of him actually going into battle had never really entered my mind, not really, not in the way it was being stomped in now. Battle, fighting vampires, they were vague concepts to me, seeing as I'd never actually seen a vampire. The closest to that had been Soli, who I now knew to be part vampire, but though she wasn't what you'd call a sweet girl, I could never even compare her to the bloodthirsty monsters Phil was talking about now.

When he started to come home injured from his training sessions, it became too much for me, it suddenly became very tangible. I could actually lose him. He wasn't as indestructible as he had always seemed before. His wounds were real, the blood seeping from them as red as anyone else's. The sight of it made me sick to my stomach, superhero Phil could indeed be harmed by those nasty creatures, whose very purpose it was to stop the pack from existing all together.

So when he appeared from the basement, rushing up the stairs, his phone still in his hand, I knew the dreadful day had finally arrived. He grabbed my arms so tight, his knuckles whitened. I couldn't feel the pain, I looked into his eyes, panic flashed through them, and that same hand clutched around my heart ever since that first day, tightened. They had taken Annie.

Chaos erupted in LaPush, Brady going crazy, wolves saying goodbye to their imprints and kids, emotions running wild. This was it, the moment we had been dreading and waiting for at the same time, was here. Arrangements were made for everyone staying behind, but it didn't register, everything faded to the background. When it was time for them to leave I couldn't believe this was happening, but he went, along with the others, leaving us in uncertainty.

Waiting seemed to last forever, not knowing what was happening made it infinitely worse, the girls who now knew perfectly well that something horrible was going on were restless to say the least. Seeing us cry in fear, had told them exactly how severe the situation was. In the beginning they kept asking about Phil and the others, until they realized we didn't know ourselves, and just stopped. I did what I could to comfort them, but it was so hard under the circumstances, which they seemed to sense better than I had expected.

Hours were spent gazing in the direction of where they went, unable to keep our minds from any of it for more than a few moments. My girls beside me most of the time, with the intention of helping me deal, just as much as I was trying to be there for them. We stuck together, because there was nothing else we could do. I tried to tell myself that I'd know if something were to happen to Phil, but it didn't help, fear kept me from sleeping, eating or doing anything at all for that matter. I was completely paralyzed.

After three weeks Solace suddenly sprang up, giving us a heart attack by doing so, running outside at such speed he was nothing a blur. The sounds were something I hoped never to hear again in my life, deafening noise caused by collisions of vampire and werewolf, shook the walls. With my girls held tightly against me, I sat on the ground in the corner of the room until it ended. As the clashes stopped, menacing howls filled the air. All I wanted to do was get outside to see what was going on, but fear kept me nailed to the ground.

Slowly I began to realize that it was really over, and my need to find Phil drove me out of the house. Searching through the huge men, being sprang on by their loved ones, I looked for him, panicking when I couldn't find him right away. Then I spotted him, coming straight towards me, a moment later I was in his arms, pressing me against him. Feeling the warmth around me that I had missed so terribly, made my heart swell again. As if it had been on hold in my chest, all shriveled up and dry, until I was with him again.

He looked horrible, thin and weak, there was nothing I wanted to do more than take him home immediately and never let him out of my sight again. The relief I felt for having him back with me in one piece, was indescribable. We stood huddled together as a family, the girls between us, I have no idea how long we stood there, before the rest of the world came swimming back into my view.

That's when I saw that not everyone had come out of it unscathed, Devlin's body was being carried back to LaPush by his mom Anna and Mark. He was only a kid, yet to begin the adventure of his life, but he hadn't survived. The face of the kid I met before he phased flashed through my mind, his carefree smile still clear in my memory broke me down. Instantly I felt for Anna and Michael, the loss of a child, it couldn't be more wrong. It had to be your worst nightmare come true, having to watch your son die before your eyes, my heart ached for them.

Everyone's gratitude of their wolves coming back home to them, was tainted by the loss of young Devlin, whose death had gripped everybody. Then there was Solace, who wasn't doing too good either. In his duty to protect us, he had fallen victim to the vengeance fueled vampire. The monster had injured him badly, shattering his leg to the bone, with its final strength. As a family we were crushed, shrouded in the darkness of these sad events, that had slammed into us so ruthlessly. Being where we were now, made me realize how fragile life was, and above all, that life just wasn't fair.


	15. A time for everything

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from the Twilight Saga belong to S. Meyer, all the other characters belong to the very talented writer yay4shanghai. You can find her fabulous stories, as well as all the amazing spin-offs written by ari11990, dll10, Guzhong, intiMACYx33, liljenrocks and TwilightHeart21, in my favorite list, so go check them out!**

**AN: **After what seems like forever, I finally finished another chapter. Thanks for bearing with me! It's almost summer break, during which I've got no classes whatsoever, hopefully I'll be able to finish this story then.

Thanks to my beta yay4shanghai for her infinite patience, you deserve better when it comes to a spin-off in your fabulous universe!

* * *

A time for everything

POV: Tara

Through societies eyes, and by society I mean the judgmental people living in La Push, we were most often looked at as weird. Imprints formed sometimes unexpected connections, and the mystical bond between pack and ex-pack members were the center of our humongous family in which the girls and me had been completely absorbed. It was partly due the fact that the outside world just didn't understand the ties that bound us together, that made us a closer unit. That was exactly why the pain of Devlin's loss ricocheted so hard through our tight knit group, affecting each and every one's life.

Every time I saw the intense sorrow in Anna's eyes, the hurt crept into my very soul. I remembered the sparkle in her eyes the first time I'd met her, the fierceness with which she looked after her own. It was during that time of grieving and sadness, that I felt so useless and helpless, desperate to find words to make all that hurt go away. The problem was that those words simply didn't exist.

As days transformed into weeks, weeks melted into months, somehow the pain dulled. Though it was inconceivable to think that we could ever forget, it was like the sharp blade cutting through whenever we thought of him, had become blunt, and was no longer able to pierce the surface. Though I didn't mind our wedding being postponed, it was hard for me to watch our girls being scared to live and have fun, the faintest sound of laughter would be immediately smothered by their own hands clasping over their mouths.

With a deep sigh I looked at the thick curtains of our bedroom window, yet another day was here, yet another day I was too tired to start, but had arrived nonetheless. Phil's arm snuck around me, pulling me back to him, placing soft, warm kisses at the base of my neck. Though being in bed with him felt like being wrapped in a 200 degrees hot blanket, his lips on my skin made goose bumps rise on my skin. His hand moved from my thigh to my belly, slowly creeping upwards, each inch he traveled made my heart beat faster.

Just like that, my mind was empty. All thoughts and worries forgotten, when he gently rubbed my nipple, and his lips enclosed my earlobe. With the simplest of touches he could set my body on fire, only because it was him that was doing the touching. Very slowly his hands roamed my body, while his mouth followed the sweet trail, teasing me, torturing me. Unfamiliar noises came out of my mouth, as I let go, giving in to the pleasure.

Completely relaxed I lay in his arms, feeling sweaty but very very satisfied, I drew lazy circles on his chest.

"What were you thinking about so hard?" Phil asked softly.

"Hmm, lots of things, but nothing for you to worry about," something felt off, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was exactly.

"You know you can tell me anything right?"

"Of course honey, but there simply isn't anything too tell," though the only reason that was true, was simply because I didn't know what it was.

Phil looked at me doubtfully, "ok then, tell me when you're ready."

Eventually it was Kim who thought there had been enough time to grieve, and discussed with us the possibility of throwing us an engagement party. According to her it would be a good occasion to celebrate.

I still had doubts, suddenly I felt like an outsider, very aware of being one of the newest members of the imprint club. What would the others think, would they agree with Kim and think it was time to move on and stop living in sadness, or would they think it completely inappropriate for us to throw a party at such a delicate time. Phil was perfectly aware of my hesitation, and didn't want to pressure me into taking a decision, leaving it up to me.

"What do you think?" I sat fidgeting at the Ateara's kitchen table, stirring my almost cold coffee, I didn't feel like drinking.

"It's not for me to decide Tara," Claire said carefully.

"Ugh, it's so difficult! I don't want to push them into something they're not ready for!" Frustrated with myself I got up and started walking back and forth.

"Who is it that you don't want to push exactly?" Claire asked perceptively, she had zeroed in on my main struggling point without effort.

"Anna. She's lost a son Claire, I don't know if she's over that. What if something like this is extremely painful for her, as if I do not care about Devlin's death."

"Of course she's not over it, I don't think she will ever be completely over the loss of her child, how could someone be? But that doesn't mean she doesn't understand life goes on, as painful as it might be, we can't keep standing still. She's strong, Anna, and we have to be there to help her see that there's still plenty to live for."

Claire's words seemed so simple, so logical, not simply said to make me feel better, but because it was the truth. Her honesty had helped me to make the decision to go through with the party, and with it, the wedding plans were carefully put back on track.

"Hmm, you smell so good," Phil buried his nose in my hair and inhaled deeply.

"Aw, that's sweet," I smiled at the way he was looking at me.

"No really, that's weird," an awkward expression took form on his face.

"Me smelling good is weird? Well thanks a lot!" I laughed at his usual clumsiness letting me know what he was thinking.

"No, of course not! It's just that- Well- Wait here, I need a second opinion," and he was gone, leaving the front door open behind him.

What the hell was that all about? I stood there, staring at the door, wondering what had just happened when Chloe and Ava came stumbling down the stairs.

"Mom? What are you doing?" Chloe looked at me weirdly, while Ave came standing next to me looking out the front door to see what I was staring at.

"Huh? Oh nothing, Phil is acting weird again, I wonder what he's up to now." Shrugging my shoulders I walked into the kitchen, the girls at my heels looking for a snack no doubt. Barely there I heard voices coming from the hallway.

"I'm right, right?" Phil's eager asked.

"Calm down man! Give me a moment," Quil was walking circles around me, sniffing with his nose high up in the air.

"Well?" Phil looked at Quil anxiously.

"I don't know, you're asking the wrong guy here!"

"Oh come on! You gotta know! You've got three remember?"

"I haven't phased in a very long time Phil, I'm telling you, you should've asked someone else," Quil stated again.

"Just try! Focus!"

A moment later they were both inhaling the air around me without offering so much as a single word of explanation.

"It's gotta be, I'm sure," Phil mumbled.

"If you're so sure, why are you asking me then?" Quil scoffed.

"I need to be_ sure_ sure, you know? Really sure," Phil looked at me again.

"Ok. Time out! One of you needs to tell me immediately, what the hell you guys are doing?" They looked at me confused. "Other than the obvious, smelling you answer please!"

"How are you feeling Tara?" Quil suddenly asked, both of them completely ignoring my demand.

"Yes, that's a good one. Why didn't I think of that? How are you feeling Tara?" Phil joined in.

"Good, a bit tired. Why are you asking me that instead of answering me?" I replied irritated.

"HAH! Tired! See, see, I told you I was right!" Phil yelled in an eureka I found the cure for cancer kind of way.

"Yes, because naturally being tired can come from nothing else. I'd go for a more scientific approach," Quil said sarcastically.

"Ok, that's it, we're done! Quil, go home to your wife before I call Claire to tell her you're being difficult." Not having to say that twice, Quil said goodbye and disappeared back out the door again.

"Now Phil, tell me slowly and clearly what you two have been going on about this entire time? I do not care for being sniffed at by two derailed wolfs!" At first it had been a bit funny, now it was just weird, and I needed to know exactly what he had been doing.

POV: Phil

For weeks now I'd smelled it. Tara's scent but somehow different, stronger, as if it had been mixed with something else. At first I thought it had been a new perfume or lotion or some other product of hers, but it was clearer when she had just taken a shower, or gotten out of bed. Also, it had gotten stronger over the last couple of weeks. Yet it wasn't until this morning that the idea popped into my head. She was pregnant.

Or at least, I thought she was. Because how could I be sure, I was in unknown territory here, I didn't know how a pregnant woman smelled! Though it was similar to what other wolves had experienced when their imprints were carrying their babies, I had sought the help of Quil. There were two reasons, first one was that he had a bunch of children of his own, second, the Ateara's lived very nearby. It had been completely useless of course, his sense of smell wasn't what it used to be when he was a wolf.

"Tara," I started, when I looked at Chloe and Ava who had been watching everything with great interest. "Maybe this should be a private conversation?" I nodded my head towards the girls.

"Ow man! It was just getting interesting!" Chloe let out offended, she had a flair for drama, and loved it when stuff like this happened and we forgot she was there. Sighing and stomping loudly as a sign of protest, they went upstairs again.

"No more stalling Phil," Tara looked at me straight.

"Ok, well I was wondering…"

"Yes, you were wondering?" She asked when I didn't continue.

"Well, are you- Could you be- Is it possible- Could you be pregnant?"

"What? No. I don't know," she started counting in her head, before her eyes grew wide.

"What?" I grabbed her arms, as if I was trying to make her spill the answer.

"I'm late, like really late. How could I not have noticed?" She plopped down on a kitchen chair, clearly in shock.

Then a weird feeling spread throughout my body, it started high in my chest, and made its way to my limbs until my fingers and toes were tingling. Until now it had all been a theoretical situation in my mind, now that it suddenly became real, it felt very different. Even though I had told her I wanted more children with her, and had meant it, I didn't know if I had meant for it to happen so soon. Though now that it was, it was a good thing… right. Then images of a round bellied Tara came popping into my brain, followed by her with a dark skinned, round faced baby in her arms. I felt a huge smile form on my face, of course it was a good thing, it was great.

Suddenly overcome with joy I lifted her up in my arms and spun her around telling her how much I loved her. It wasn't until she screamed my name that I realized she might get nauseous because I was being too rough with her.

Immediately I stopped turning and looked at her. "Oh shit, I'm sorry. Are you ok, do you need to sit down?"

She laughed loudly, "and there it is. For a moment I thought you would be able to enjoy this without getting all worried and overprotective, I should've known better."

A quick run to the drugstore confirmed what we had already known, a doctor's visit told us that she was almost two months along. I never knew that they measured the baby to determine the date of conception, but the mere 0.8 inches it was told us she was in her 8th week. A tiny peanut with a superfast heartbeat, that's what it looked like to me, but that was my son or daughter.

It was a bit early to start spreading the news, but we decided to tell Chloe and Ava right away. Of course it was a bit naive of us to think that we could actually keep it a secret within our family, a few days later at the engagement party more people than we had planned to tell knew.

Though Tara had doubts about the party, and that there were a few emotional moments, it was a good thing we went through with it. As a family we needed some sort of closure, to be able to go on with our lives without feeling guilty about laughing or having fun. The newest member of the Uley-Varn family, Elijah, was welcomed into the group. A cute boy, with huge glasses, who was almost completely deaf, he immediately caught Ava's attention. Her need to care had been a part of her when she was very little, but as she grew older it became a bigger part of who she was. It would be no surprise to me, if the two of them would get along just fine within no time.

Never would I have pictured myself as the proud daddy type, or even a dad at all, yet I had become one. I loved telling people I would be a dad in about seven months. But when I told Tara that, she smiled and told me I had been one ever since I had welcomed Chloe and Ava into my life.

"Just a sec Ava, I'll be right back," I got up from the floor and walked towards the front door.

Ava had asked me to teach her sign language. She knew some, but she wanted to be better at it. Of course she was doing it to be able to talk to Eli, more than the short basic conversations she'd had with him so far, she wanted to be his friend. Almost every afternoon we practiced on the thick carpet in the living room, which was what we had been doing, until Tara came home from her dance lessons, looking like a ghost.

"Tara, are you feeling alright, you look tired," I commented carefully while lifting her chin up to look at me.

"I'm fine Phil, I'm not gonna stop teaching just because I'm pregnant," she said irritated.

"I'm not asking you to quit teaching, but maybe you should lie down for a while afterwards, you do need to rest."

"Ugh, your overreacting as usual!" With a deep sigh she sat down on the couch and grabbed the remote.

Unsure of what to do now, I went back to Ava to continue her lesson, while Tara was flipping through the channels until she settled on an afternoon talk show. She had refused to adjust her day to day activities, even though we could all see she was exhausted. Especially now that the last details of the wedding were added to it, she was clearly in need of some extra hours of sleep.

"Phil, mom's asleep," Ava signed a few minutes later.

Looking back at Tara, her head tilted to the side, eyes closed, I saw that she had indeed dozed off in front of the television. Smiling I looked back at Ava, who looked at me proudly, she was a fast learner.

"That's enough for today," I signed to Ava so that I could bring Tara to our bedroom.

When I lifted her up into my arms, she stirred and opened her eyes for a moment. "What are you doing?" She mumbled.

"Nothing, just go back to sleep," my lips touched her hair and she laid her head on my shoulder.

After that, she didn't make a big deal out of it, and made sure she got an hour or two extra sleep when the girls were at school. It was during those hours I started thinking about retirement from the pack, within a few months our child would be born, and she would be turning thirty this May. That I hadn't thought of it before surprised me, maybe it was due to the fact that Tara looked nowhere near thirty that the idea hadn't entered my mind before, but it definitely was now.

Around the time that she usually woke up, I crawled into bed with her. With my hand on her belly that would start to grow soon, I waited until she was awake, to tell her I would officially retire from the pack.

"Are you sure?" She asked surprised.

"Of course I am. Besides, there are plenty of active wolves in the pack to protect us, they don't need me."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it. Retirement isn't easy, are you sure you wanna give it up?"

"It's not a decision I have taken lightly Tara, I've been thinking about it for a while now. I love you and I wanna grow old with you, I wanna spend time with our baby instead of patrolling for stray vampires."

"Oh Phil, I love you too," she whispered. "It's a good thing I just took a nap," she said before pulling my lips to hers.


End file.
